Studies & Reports
Attempting to Gauge the Impact of “Near-Miss” Incidents on Houston’s Streets
We've all had this experience while walking or biking -- someone cutting us off, or swerving, leaving us catching our breath and thinking, "That was close." Close encounters, just inches away from being a collision, have a big impact on how we think about street safety, but they're not well understood, since they're rarely, if ever, reported. A new report out of Houston attempts to gauge the impact of these "near-miss" incidents.
May 26, 2017
Global Street Design Guide Now Available Free Online
As of this week, the Global Street Design Guide, a handbook for cities around the world to design safe, sustainable streets, is available to the public as for free online.
May 18, 2017
Only Six Cities Are Worthy of Rail Funding, Manhattan Institute Scholar Decrees
A new report from Manhattan Institute senior fellow Aaron Renn argues that the federal government should stop supporting new rail lines in cities across the country.
May 4, 2017
AAA’s Latest Road Safety Report Ignores the Obvious: We Should Be Driving Less
The number of annual traffic deaths in America is heading in the wrong direction, climbing back above the 40,000 mark. To reverse this trend, the AAA Foundation for Road Safety this week released a report that prioritizes six road design changes it says would do the most to reduce the death toll. There's just one problem: AAA's report doesn't consider the idea that, to save lives, we should be driving less.
May 3, 2017
It’s Hard to Overstate the Health Benefits of Biking to Work
A massive new study of commuters in the United Kingdom reveals that people who bike to work tend to live longer and are at lower risk of heart disease and cancer. While the study establishes correlation but doesn't prove causation, the size of the sample and the magnitude of the effects strongly suggest that biking to work can yield major health benefits.
April 24, 2017
The Transit Riding Habit Can Last a Lifetime, But First You Need to Get People in the Habit
While the habit formation effect is real, it is not, unfortunately, very large.
April 14, 2017
Busting the Myth of the “Scofflaw Cyclist”
According to a certain perspective that seems to hold sway among local newspaper columnists, bicyclists are reckless daredevils who flout the road rules that everyone else faithfully upholds. But the results of a massive survey published in the Journal of Transport and Land Use point to a different conclusion -- everyone breaks traffic laws, and there's nothing extraordinary about how people behave on bikes.
March 16, 2017
Win Back Transit Riders By Speeding Up Bus Boarding
One surefire way for U.S. transit agencies to improve bus service is to streamline the boarding process by enabling riders to get on at any door. In a new report, NACTO makes the case for all-door boarding and looks at how American transit agencies are moving forward on implementation.
March 1, 2017
The Unequal Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
News reports tend to blame the victims of these crashes for transgressions like "distracted walking" or crossing where they shouldn't have. But a new analysis from Smart Growth America highlights how pedestrian deaths are a systemic problem caused by the dangerous design of our streets and transportation systems.
January 10, 2017
These U.S. Cities Offer the Best Job Access to Transit Riders
How well does your city's transit system connect people to jobs? A new report from the University of Minnesota lays out how many jobs are accessible via transit in major American cities.
January 9, 2017
