Federal Highway Administration
New Federal Guide Will Show More Cities the Way on Protected Bike Lanes
Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets.
May 19, 2015
FHWA Will Help Cities Get Serious About Measuring Biking and Walking
The lack of good data on walking and biking is a big problem. Advocates say current metrics yield a spotty and incomplete picture of how much, where, and why Americans walk and bike. The U.S. Census only tells us about commuting -- a fairly small share of total trips. The more detailed National Household Transportation Survey comes with its own drawbacks: It's conducted infrequently and doesn't provide useful data at a local scale.
April 15, 2015
Americans Are Driving Less, But Road Expansion Is Accelerating
Americans drive fewer miles today than in 2005, but since that time the nation has built 317,000 lane-miles of new roads -- or about 40,000 miles per year. Maybe that helps explain why America's infrastructure is falling apart.
February 20, 2015
The Feds Quietly Acknowledge the Driving Boom Is Over
The Federal Highway Administration has very quietly acknowledged that the driving boom is over.
January 7, 2015
Talking Headways Short: The Real News About America’s Driving Habits
Consider this a bonus track. A deleted scene at the end of your DVD. Extra footage.
September 24, 2014
U.S. DOT to Publish Its Own Manual on Protected Bike Lanes
Before the end of this year, the Federal Highway Administration will release its own guidance on designing protected bike lanes.
September 23, 2014
FHWA Gleefully Declares That Driving Is Up, Calls for More Highway Spending
Well, so much for the predictions that changing preferences and new technologies will lead to a car-free utopia. The Federal Highway Administration announced last week that after nine years of steady decline, vehicle-miles-traveled in the U.S. was 1.4 percent higher this June than last June. Apparently, red-blooded Americans everywhere are finally getting back to their Hummer habit after a few years of diminished driving and rising transit ridership and bike commuting.
September 2, 2014
FHWA to Engineers: Go Ahead and Use City-Friendly Street Designs
The heavyweights of American transportation engineering continue to warm up to design guides that prioritize walking, biking, and transit on city streets. On Friday, the Federal Highway Administration made clear that it endorses the National Association of City Transportation Officials' Urban Street Design Guide, which features street treatments like protected bike lanes that you won't find in the old engineering "bibles."
July 28, 2014
FHWA Proposes to Let States Fail Their Own Safety Goals With Impunity
This story has been updated to reflect comments and clarifications from the FHWA.
March 14, 2014
Bike Signals Get the Green Light From Engineering Establishment
Think of it as a Christmas gift: On December 24, the gatekeepers who determine which street treatments should become standard tools for American engineers decided to add bike signals to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sometimes called "the bible of traffic engineering."
January 6, 2014