Florida
Attacking the Language Bias in Transportation Engineering
"Improvement." "Upgrade." "Level of Service." The traffic engineering profession is full of buzzwords laden with meaning -- and, for the most part, the embedded meaning is something to the effect of "cars are king."
June 3, 2013
LaHood: Zero Tolerance for Drivers Who Disrespect Cyclists
First there was “Click It or Ticket.” Then there was Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Now, U.S. DOT is campaigning to end another life-threatening behavior: disrespecting cyclists.
April 12, 2013
Tampa Bike Safety Summit Proves (Finally) to Be No April Fools’ Joke
Bike advocates got yet another reason to love Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last month when he announced that U.S. DOT would hold two bicycle safety summits this year. The summits would examine why bicycle fatality rates are rising when automobile fatalities are falling.
April 9, 2013
Sprawl Madness: Two Houses Share Backyard, Separated by 7 Miles of Roads
Just how absurd have American development patterns become over the past few decades?
February 28, 2013
Pedestrian Safety, as Brought to You By Florida DOT and NASCAR
You wouldn't necessarily expect NASCAR, the very embodiment of the macho fast-car fetish in America, to go to bat for pedestrians. But in preparation for yesterday's "Super Bowl of stock car racing," the Daytona 500, NASCAR teamed up with the Florida Department of Transportation to help promote pedestrian safety around the event.
February 25, 2013
Poll: The Hunt for the Worst Intersection in America Continues
Earlier this week we looked at the intersection of Route 355 and Shady Grove Road near Rockville, Maryland, flagged by Ben Ross at Greater Greater Washington for being especially hostile to pedestrians, even though it's the site of a bus stop. We asked if it might be the worst intersection in the country and put out a call for readers to send their nominations for the title.
January 31, 2013
NRDC Gives Gas Consumption Maps a Helpful Revision
The overwhelming sentiment that greeted our story on the gas consumption maps the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club put out last week went something like this: These are almost useful. Just about everyone agreed that looking at total fuel consumption per county wasn’t very informative without weighing that number against population.
October 5, 2012
Now No Republican Will Ever Ride a Bus Again
You’ve got to hand it to the Republicans. Even the party of transit haters had to admit that the only logical way to move delegates around in the congested streets around the GOP convention was by bus. And they would have been right, except they had a little snafu that will undoubtedly convince everyone involved that transit is, indeed, an utter failure.
August 29, 2012
GOP Selects Site Next to TIGER-Funded Greenway for RNC Convention
Some Republican lawmakers really can't stand TIGER, the Obama Administration's competitive grant program for innovative transportation projects, which has funded several local initiatives to improve transit, biking, and walking over the past few years. Right now, Republicans are fighting to keep TIGER funding out of an appropriations bill -- even though demand for the program has been overwhelming. In the last round of funding, nearly 700 applications were received requesting $10.2 billion, with only $500 million available for about 50 projects.
July 18, 2012
Christie, Walker, Kasich, and Scott All Deceived the Public to Kill Rail
Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Florida -- the Republican governors in each of these states recently aborted a major rail project claiming it was too expensive. Their methods were remarkably similar; their justifications aligned. In many ways, it was like they were all working from the same playbook.
April 13, 2012