Noah Kazis

It may be the middle of summer, but if you're paying attention, it's already election season. With a string of primaries leading into November's main event, voters will consider transportation issues from now through the fall. In some races, like for California governor, it's one of many hot-button topics being debated by the candidates. In others, transportation is right there on the ballot.

Another city, another would-be transit-oriented development undermined by a glut of parking. This time it's Newton, Massachusetts, where plans are underway to build 420,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail, and 190 units of housing at the Riverside terminus of Boston's Green Line, the highest-ridership light rail line in the country.

Americans who ride trains and buses are suffering the effects of a huge maintenance backlog, according to a new study by the Federal Transit Administration [PDF]. It would take a down payment of $77.7 billion to bring the nation's transit systems up to a state of good repair and another $14.4 billion per year, on average, to keep transit running smoothly, safely, and comfortably for riders. 

A fresh look at old information can sometimes be all you need to better understand a knotty problem. And a fresh look is exactly what the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority provided with a new set of bus maps released this week. Using GPS data gathered last year, these maps show the average speed of the transit system's buses, painting a picture of where bus riders could use faster service. 

Who takes transit? That's what the Atlanta Regional Commission is trying to figure out with what it calls the largest-ever survey of riders in the United States. The commission spoke to 50,000 transit riders, a full ten percent of the region's total ridership, on all of Greater Atlanta's seven transit systems. 

As the threat of a Republican filibuster continues to prevent the Senate from passing climate legislation, leading Democrats have tried to scale back their proposal in an attempt to peel off a few votes. In the process, serious attempts to put a price on carbon have fallen by the wayside, taking with them the best hope of reducing transportation emissions. A new bill introduced yesterday by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, however, aims to reintroduce transportation into the energy debate, if in a more limited form.

Transportation is a public health issue. As profiled in the recently released report from the Trust for America's Health, "F as in Fat," obesity rates continue to rise across the nation, increasing the risk of serious health problems like diabetes and hypertension. To solve the obesity epidemic, the data suggest, we need to rethink our dependence on the automobile. 

Is the United States exceptional? It's a question that's bedeviled activists and historians alike since the country was born 234 years ago this Sunday. It's also a question that's been bugging Barbara McCann, the executive director of the Complete Streets Coalition. She's been at Velo-City, a bike conference held in cycling mecca Copenhagen this year. Writes McCann on her organization's blog:

It's amazing how much a strong transit system can reshape the city around it. And not just through the physical changes that transit brings, but the mental ones too. A transit system can reshape the way we imagine or understand our surroundings. In some cities, for example, you identify your location with the nearest subway stop, not a neighborhood. "I work near Metro Center" is a pretty common statement in Washington D.C. When you spend enough time on transit, individual stations start to take on meaning, shared or personal.

At least among cabinet secretaries, US DOT chief Ray LaHood has become something of a livable streets rock star. His forceful and public support for cyclists and pedestrians and his dedication to safe driving have earned him the praise of many. By comparison, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan hasn't made quite the same splash in green transportation circles.