Sarah Goodyear

A couple of hopeful pieces of news from the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of Streetsblog Network member Bike Portland. First off, their fair city has put some exciting bike/ped improvements in its stimulus package request, including the design and construction of a bike-and-pedestrian-only bridge, as well as Portland's first-ever cycle track. The plans call for starting the projects within the next 12 months.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're stepping back and taking a look at the big picture. Over at network member Worldchanging, Sarah Kuck writes about the ideas of environmental scientist and sustainability activist Peter Newman. Newman gave a talk in Seattle the other night promoting his forthcoming book, Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change:

What are this society's transportation priorities? As Twin Cities Streets for People points out, the stimulus package is forcing governments and citizens across the country to confront that question. We've got their most recent post on the subject today on the Streetsblog Network.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're featuring a post from The Transport Politic that analyzes Rep. James Oberstar's recent speech on transportation in the stimulus bill to the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Oberstar spoke on his own "Rebuild America" proposal:

Think bike lanes are enough to get people biking? WalkBikeCT would have you think again. A post on this Streetsblog Network member site today says that a more comprehensive planning approach is necessary to make most people feel safe on two wheels:

Today on the Streetsblog Network we're hearing from Santa Rosa CityBus, the only blog on the network (so far) that is written by employees of a municipal transit agency. Their latest post laments the lack of positive press for the bus in general:

One of the great things about the Streetsblog Network is the way it can connect people in different parts of the country so that they can share solutions to livable streets problems. So maybe someone out there will be able to help Austin Bike Blog figure out what cyclists in that city should do when parking meters begin to be replaced by electronic parking kiosks:

Last Sunday in New York, the Street Memorial Project organized a ride in memory of the 14 bicyclists and more than 100 pedestrians killed by cars in the city in 2008. You can see the StreetFilm about the ride here.

The controversy over the new bike lanes on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg (which recently resulted in the ouster of livable streets activist Teresa Toro as chair of the CB1 transportation committee) was chronicled in the New York Times over the weekend:

As Inauguration Day gets closer, talk on the Streetsblog Network is turning back to the stimulus bill being pushed by the new administration. On Saturday, President-elect Obama once again talked to the nation about how he wants to pump federal dollars into infrastructure spending. And once again, while he singled out roads and bridges as worthy of investment, the words "transit" and "rail" never passed his lips. Should we be worrying about this? Or are we trying to read too much into these highly stylized YouTube pronouncements?