Sarah Goodyear

Here at Streetsblog, we often discuss the ongoing carnage caused by drivers on the nation's roads and streets -- and the near-total lack of accountability for those who are anything but staggering drunk. And we often discuss, too, the role that language plays in our perceptions of accountability. Today's Streetsblog Network featured post, from Sustainable Savannah, is a particularly thoughtful and reasonable examination of the importance of terminology -- "accidents" vs. "crashes":

Are cities with strong centers faring better in the recession? Today on the Streetsblog Network we're featuring a post from NRDC Switchboard's Kaid Benfield that pulls together several items suggesting that might be the case:

Today we bring you a call for action from Pennsylvania network member Bike PGH, which is asking Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell to release funds for the state's Safe Routes to Schools program:

I just returned from an overnight train trip on Amtrak a couple of days ago, riding the Crescent from Meridian, Mississippi, into Penn Station, after completing the southbound trip a week earlier. It's a route I've traveled before, one of dozens of long-distance hauls I've made on Amtrak over the last 20 or so years. And while it may be wishful thinking, I felt like there was an improved mood on the train this time, among both crew and passengers. I heard several hopeful conversations in the dining car about the future of intercity rail travel in this country.

Communities around the country are bracing for the impact of fare hikes and transit cuts, as jury-rigged funding mechanisms for vital local transportation systems crumble under the strain of the weakening economy. You already know about the MTA's woes in New York City; today, the Times had a report about the 75 percent fare increase that's going to be hitting Long Island bus riders. In Orange County, CA, Streetsblog Network member Orange County Transit Blog reports on a similarly devastating situation. The local transit authority there, OCTA, has voted to decrease service by 25 percent and lay off 400 employees:

We're taking it out of the city and into the suburbs and small towns today on the Streetsblog Network. Member blog Urban City Architecture takes a look at Moving Communities Forward, a recently released report on transit-oriented development (TOD) from the American Institute of Architects and the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota (it was funded by the Federal Highway Administration):

To finish off the Streetsblog Network week on an adrenaline-filled note, we've got a post about fear -- the biker's fear, to be precise -- from Livable Streets for West Palm Beach. Raphael Clemente relates a couple of all-too-familiar anecdotes about drivers who use their vehicles to intimidate, then says:

Automobile congestion is too often portrayed as mere nuisance or inconvenience. A new study from Germany, which we heard about via Streetsblog Network member blog The Hard Drive, reminds us that it is much more than that. The study, presented at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention last week, shows that being in a traffic jam -- whether in a car, on a bike, or on a bus -- can triple a person's chance of having a heart attack:

Some disturbing news about stimulus spending on roads comes to us from Streetsblog Network member blog Sprawled Out, which covers the city of Franklin, WI. In that Milwaukee suburb, according to Sprawled Out's John Michlig, local bureaucrats are potentially on track to use stimulus funds to widen a local street in a particularly destructive way:

The Streetsblog Network is buzzing with bike news this morning, much of it related to the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, where the mood sounds really upbeat. Bike Portland has been doing some great reporting from the summit; yesterday, we brought you their summary of DOT Secretary Ray LaHood's pledge to be a "full partner" with bike advocates.