Commuting
Study Links Long Commutes to a Host of Health Maladies
We all know regular TV-watching is a risk factor for obesity and associated health problems. Also, recent studies shined a light on the role of sedentary jobs.
May 15, 2012
Mounting Transportation and Housing Costs Devour Household Budgets
On Monday we wrote that Americans can't afford a transportation bill that locks households into the expenses of car dependence. Yesterday the Center for Neighborhood Technology hammered the point home, releasing new data showing how communities are getting less and less affordable nationwide.
February 29, 2012
“Anti-Livability” Bills Threaten to Clip Arlington’s Wings
A pair of bills making their way through Virginia's House of Delegates threaten to slam the brakes on smart growth and livability efforts in Arlington and throughout Northern Virginia.
January 28, 2011
If You Come, They Will Build It: Notes on Livability From Rail~volution
Those looking for hope in this era of transit service cuts took heart from the words of William Millar, President of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), at Rail~volution yesterday. In his keynote speech, Millar reasons to hope for a better future -- despite the fact that 84 percent of APTA members were cutting service, raising fares, laying off personnel, or delaying projects this year due to budget cuts.
October 21, 2010
Report: Want to Ease Commuter Pain? Highways and Sprawl Won’t Help
Imagine two drivers leaving downtown to head home. Each of them sits in traffic for the first ten miles of the commute but at that point, their paths diverge. The first one has reached home. The second has another twenty miles to drive, though luckily for her, the roads are clear and congestion doesn't slow her down. Who's got a better commute?
September 29, 2010
Car-Dependent States Hit Hardest by Obesity Epidemic
Transportation is a public health issue. As profiled in the recently released report from the Trust for America's Health, "F as in Fat," obesity rates continue to rise across the nation, increasing the risk of serious health problems like diabetes and hypertension. To solve the obesity epidemic, the data suggest, we need to rethink our dependence on the automobile.
July 8, 2010
New Report Puts a Price on Suburbia and Rental Housing in One U.S. City
Boston mayor Thomas Menino joined Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) today for the release of a new Urban Land Institute (ULI) report that maps the combined housing and transportation burden of living in the metro area's various neighborhoods.
April 12, 2010
Transit and Congestion, an Indirect Connection
Yesterday, Freakonomics linked to a new piece of research [PDF] on congestion that I'd been musing over for a few days. Let me quote the abstract here (paragraph break and emphasis mine):
October 2, 2009
California County Now Offers Ride Insurance to Car-Free Commuters
Transit and bike commuters in many cities are able to rush home quickly if an emergency strikes -- but for commuters looking to give up their cars in less dense areas, an emergency often means a pricey cab ride. One California county that falls in the latter camp, Santa Cruz, has come up with a unique solution: "ride insurance."
September 14, 2009
Richard Florida: Decline of the Burbs is Not Just About Gas Prices
Via Planetizen, Richard Florida argues the decline in the popularity of
suburbs is not just a product of rising oil prices, but a result of a
new "spatial fix" that is reorganizing how and where people live their
lives. From Florida's column in the Globe and Mail:
July 18, 2008