Chicago
Fixing a Blank Wall Streetscape With Storefront Retrofits
Every city has places where the buildings present a blank face to the sidewalk. A dark, recessed arcade deadening the pedestrian environment or a soulless concrete wall fronting a windswept plaza.
September 5, 2014
Oil-Laden Freight Trains Delaying Amtrak, Commuter Trains Across U.S.
Oil production is booming across North America, as new technologies make it possible to extract liquid crude oil from sources like the Bakken shale oil field in North Dakota and Montana, or Alberta's tar sands. The ever-increasing volume of crude oil mined in remote Great Plains locations often finds its way to refineries via "rolling pipelines" – freight trains that tow a million barrels of oil around the United States every day. Production of Bakken crude has tripled over the past three years, and 79 percent of it is shipped out by rail.
August 14, 2014
Study: To Keep Bicyclists Outside the Door Zone, You Need a Buffer
A new study has found that bike lanes with a buffer next to the parking lane are better than conventional bike lanes at encouraging bicyclists to ride outside the door zone.
July 30, 2014
Parking Madness Final Four: Chicago vs. Jacksonville
We started with 16 parking craters and now we're down to the Final Four of Parking Madness.
April 4, 2014
Parking Madness Elite Eight: El Cerrito vs. Chicago
We're two weeks into our Parking Madness competition, and only a few parking craters are still standing.
April 2, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Knight Rider Rides Again
It was a dark and stormy day in San Francisco and Jeff Wood stayed dry in Woonerf studios, recording the Talking Headways podcast with co-host Tanya Snyder, who was bitter that days after the spring equinox, Washington, DC, was getting hit with another snowstorm.
March 27, 2014
It’s ON! Parking Madness 2014 Kicks Off With Chicago vs. Denver
Are you ready for Parking Madness 2014, our second annual search for parking craters that have obliterated cities? You better be.
March 19, 2014
Bixi Bankruptcy: What Does It Mean for American Bike-Share?
The Montreal-based equipment supplier for several American bike-share systems, including New York's Citi Bike and Chicago's Divvy, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday. It's unclear exactly how the restructuring or sale of the company known as Bixi will play out, but the bankruptcy filing could accelerate the transition to more robust and reliable hardware and software. It also figures to be a messy process, though the company that operates Citi Bike expressed confidence today that it won't impede their service.
January 21, 2014
The U.S. Cities Where Cycling Is Growing the Fastest
This table, showing the top 10 U.S. cities where cycling is growing fastest, comes from a new report from the League of American Bicyclists that analyzes census data. Though the census only tracks bicycle commuting -- and thus understates how many people are cycling -- the results tell an interesting story about cycling trends.
November 19, 2013
Chicago Transit Agencies Vote for a Tollway Even the Road Lobby Hates
Chicago-area transportation organizations are poised to shoot themselves in the foot and harm the region by allowing the Illinois Department of Transportation Department to squander limited transportation infrastructure funds on the $2.75 billion Illiana Tollway. On Friday the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's transportation committee voted to recommend moving forward with this wasteful, destructive project, which promises to suck jobs from Illinois and send them to Indiana. It would create only 940 new jobs over the next thirty years.
October 8, 2013