Streetsblog.net
A Big Opportunity to Reform the Vicious Cycle of Highway Expansion
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx made headlines recently with a speech about how America needs to rethink its approach to urban highways. But U.S. DOT's influence is limited. States have the real power when it comes spending federal transportation funds, however, and a lot of states are still stuck in the cycle of addressing traffic congestion by widening highways, which generates more traffic, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum.
April 13, 2016
Mapping the Cost of Sprawl for Low-Income Workers
How do highways and greenfield development exacerbate inequality?
April 12, 2016
America’s “New” Rail Systems Are Showing Their Age
What should we make of the recent headline-grabbing service disruptions at Washington Metro and BART? This chart from Houston transit advocate Christof Spieler offers some important perspective.
April 11, 2016
What Would an Urban Agenda Look Like for Your State?
Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper recently tweeted that "Ohio needs an urban agenda." A group of local bloggers (myself included) think that's a great idea, and we've been writing about what good state-level policy for Ohio cities would look like.
April 8, 2016
Oregon DOT Wants to “Change Cultural Norms” Related to Distracted Driving
It's refreshing to see public agencies go beyond PSAs to deter distracted driving, which contributes to thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year. With traffic deaths on the rise in Oregon, state officials are ramping up their efforts.
April 7, 2016
Transit Priority Streets Making a Comeback in D.C.
Forty years ago, the Washington region had 60 miles of bus lanes on its streets, a network that was erased once Metrorail started operating. Today passengers make about half a million trips on Metro buses each weekday, not a great deal less than Metrorail, but there is no network of priority streets for buses.
April 6, 2016
DC Used to Fly the Skull and Cross-Bones to Mark Each Traffic Death
My, how things change.
April 5, 2016
Even Places With No Congestion Are Widening Highways
For every transportation agency trying to innovate and update policies for the 21st century, there are several thoughtlessly widening highways like it's still 1956.
April 4, 2016
Citing Safety Problems, Federal Officials Assume Control of San Jose Streets
When something goes wrong and people get hurt on a train, national transportation safety officials swoop in immediately to root out the source of risk and prevent future loss of life.
April 1, 2016
Did Portland’s New Parking Mandates Force Housing Costs Up?
There was a window a few years ago when Portland allowed developers to construct large apartment buildings without any parking. But even in Portland there's pressure to subsidize cars at the expense of housing affordability.
March 31, 2016