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Yesterday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was supposed to unveil a visionary new statewide transportation plan. And while the spending component includes a commuter rail expansion and a pedestrian and bike program, the funding component bears some resemblance to what we recently held up as a worst-case scenario.

Well, there's no longer any question whose side Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is on when it comes to the controversial Western Bypass in Charlottesville. Whether the locals favor this project or not, the 6.2 mile, $300 million bypass, just north of the University of Virginia, clearly has some friends in high places.

In the depths of the great recession, Michigan had the highest unemployment rate in the nation. But it's been encouraging to see how the crisis has prompted some reflection on the part of local leaders.

Today, Chicago transit riders are seeing their first fare hike in four years. Though the base fare is unchanged, multi-ride passes are up, including fares for seniors and the disabled.

Florida is not a pedestrian-friendly place. According to Transportation for America's most recent Dangerous by Design report, Sunshine State cities took home first, second, third, and fourth place in the rankings of the nation's most dangerous metros for walking.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, David Levinson at the Transportationist presents some interesting explanations about why so much American road building is a poor use of funds:

It can be such a pleasure to stroll down a street that was was developed in the first part of the 20th Century, or earlier. More often than not, these places are walkable, pedestrian-scaled, and filled with storefronts. Why is it so hard for modern developers to create places like these?

Yesterday, we mentioned that some people in Washington, DC, are up in arms over a zoning rule designed to let more people move in to some residential areas. Linda Schmitt, leader of a group that goes by the name "Neighbors for Neighborhoods," is organizing against a measure that would allow people to live in existing buildings in alleyways. It was a curious complaint, because, as David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington noted, what they were all worked up over amounted to a few "cute, clean little brick house[s]."

Portland just did something that would be a big deal for any city: It removed two motor vehicle lanes on a major thoroughfare -- Northeast Multnomah Street -- and replaced them with protected bike lanes.