Tanya Snyder

Last week, when everyone was getting all sappy over Thanksgiving, did you give thanks for Streetsblog? Even a little bit?

After a lot of vague talk about transportation revenues since the passage of MAP-21 -- “everything is on the table” and “we need to think outside the box” -- real proposals are finally being presented.

The long-term decline of walking and biking to school has been linked to the childhood obesity epidemic, a big share of morning rush hour traffic, and even kids' lack of attention in class. In 1969, 41 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school, and of those kids, 89 percent usually walked or biked. By 2009, 31 percent lived within a mile of school -- and only 35 percent of them walked or biked.

Rep. Blumenauer Introduces Bill to Raise Federal Gas Tax By 15 Cents a Gallon (The Hill) NTSB: Crashed Metro-North Train Was Going 82 Around a 30 MPH Curve (AP) NY Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Asks for Federal Help on Train Safety (Newsday) Michigan Group: Stop Wiping Out Communities to Widen Highways No One Needs (mLive) DC … Continued

If you’ve ever wondered how a deep-red state like Utah has managed to build some of the most ambitious transit expansions in the country, the short answer is: Envision Utah.

Four Dead, 63 Injured in Metro-North Crash in the Bronx (NYT) It’s the Fifth Major Safety Breach in 2013. What’s Going on With Metro-North? (AP) Arrows Point to Passage for Washington State Transpo Bill (Yakima Herald) Is Chicago’s Infrastructure Trust All It’s Cracked Up to Be? (Governing) London “Stop Killing Cyclists” Campaign Holds a Die-In … Continued

Can I be a little corny here?

This week, Jeff and Tanya take on the Atlanta Braves' terrible, no-good, very bad decision to move their stadium to Cobb County, Georgia. We discuss cities that are (and are not) shaped like wedding cakes, and whether that means you need to smoosh your spouse's face in it. Tanya makes a pedestrian-rights argument against high-heeled shoes (and Jeff abstains from taking sides). We parse the differences between "shared streets" -- without marked-out space for cars, bikes, and people on foot -- and vehicular cycling.

Please join us for a winter warmer happy hour at DC's transportation-themed bar, The Passenger.

FTA Warns Cincinnati Not to Cancel Streetcar Project (WKRC) Judge Bars California’s Beleaguered High-Speed Rail From Issuing Bonds (Bloomberg) Realtors’ Survey Again Reveals Americans’ Indecision on Smart Growth (Switchboard) A Highway Teardown… in Dallas? (NextCity) An Entire World of Windshield Perspective Sufferers, Shocked By One Man Walking (NYT) San Jose Removes Buffered Bike Lane Installed … Continued