If you've already purchased a car, there are big financial incentives to drive it. Image: Better Institutions While owning a car is a massive financial burden, economic incentives can still get in the way of the transition from car ownership to living car-free, even if you already don’t drive much. As Shane Phillips at Network blog Better [...]
streetsblog.net/2013/04/30/the-big-leap-from-car-lite-to-car-free/
Mayor Anthony Foxx has accepted President Obama's nomination to be the next U.S. DOT secretary. Photo: Flickr/psychoticwolf via Smart Growth America Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx just accepted President Obama’s nomination to be the next transportation secretary. Before we get into the details of Anthony Foxx’s résumé and policy positions, let’s just take a moment to appreciate this: [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/04/29/meet-your-next-transportation-secretary/
Secretary Ray LaHood (left) and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (right) ride along the Riverwalk to kick off U.S. DOT's bike safety summit. Photo: City of Tampa, via Fast Lane First there was “Click It or Ticket.” Then there was Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Now, U.S. DOT is campaigning to end another life-threatening behavior: disrespecting cyclists. “We need [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/04/12/lahood-zero-tolerance-for-drivers-who-disrespect-cyclists/
Step one: Do it like Indianapolis. This is how Indianapolis does complete streets. Image: UrbanIndy Of the 130 complete streets policies passed in 2012, the one passed by Indianapolis gets the highest score in a new ranking by Smart Growth America and its National Complete Streets Coalition. “The Complete Streets movement fundamentally redefines what a street is intended [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/04/08/how-to-write-a-complete-streets-policy/
Usually when we hear news from a Streetsblog Network member about the Missouri Department of Transportation, it’s because the agency is blocking ideas like a complete streets bill or a highway-to-boulevard conversion in downtown St. Louis. The advocates at BikeWalkKC report that now the agency is feeling some grassroots resistance to its cars-first approach: Photo: Patch/MoDOT The [...]
streetsblog.net/2013/03/29/kansas-city-residents-to-missouri-dot-enough-with-the-highways-already/
There should be a special term for the all-too-common phenomenon of a state DOT putting the kibosh on a promising local project. DOT-blocking! (Yes, it’s pronounced “dot-blocking.”) Because of the Ohio Department of Transportation's over-the-top lane width requirements, there's "no room" for bike lanes on this road in Cleveland. The city may be forced to spend [...]
streetsblog.net/2013/03/27/when-the-state-dot-stands-in-the-way-of-local-progress/
Something important is happening in Memphis, Tennessee. Commuting on one of the new protected bike lanes in Memphis. Photo: Memphis Daily News Out on the streets, the city has made progress on its plan to add 55 miles of bike lanes in two years, including the installation of some protected bike lanes. In addition, the state of [...]
streetsblog.net/2013/03/11/memphis-marching-forward-on-safe-streets/
From around the Streetsblog Network today, here are a few developments affecting the walking environment in cities from Miami to Las Vegas. The news, unfortunately, is mostly bad. Nevada, hardly a haven for pedestrians, is cracking down on texting and walking. Image: #123rf.com Nevada Cracks Down on Texting and Walking: Nevada’s best known street — the Las [...]
streetsblog.net/2013/03/05/nevada-miami-and-st-louis-take-steps-backward-on-pedestrian-policy/
Supervisors Eric Mar, Mark Farrell, and London Breed. The plan to overhaul deadly Masonic Avenue with pedestrian safety upgrades and raised, protected bike lanes could get much of its funding from a regional grant program. The Masonic project has received a strong endorsement from three members of the Board of Supervisors, who sent a letter last [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2013/02/25/supes-urge-regional-funding-for-complete-street-redesign-of-masonic/
Next month, outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will speak at the National Bike Summit — he never misses one — and I’ll bet the standing ovation lasts 10 minutes. His support for biking and walking has been unprecedented at U.S. DOT. Now cyclists are worrying about who could replace him, and whether that person will [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/02/11/cycling-advocates-to-president-wed-like-another-ray-lahood-please/
Is your neighborhood designed to make people healthy or sick? With the right characteristics, the place where you live could add years to your life. Children in Redondo Beach, California -- a Blue Zone community -- take part in morning exercises. LA Times In 2004, Dan Buettner, CEO of the Blue Zones Project, partnered with researchers from National [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/02/08/designing-communities-for-longevity-the-blue-zones-project/
This is the second installment in our three-part “Revolving Door” series about how cronyism in state DOTs leads to wasteful highway building. The first part profiled Ohio DOT chief Jerry Wray, who has switched back and forth between working directly for the asphalt industry and shoveling money to the asphalt industry as a public official. Like [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2013/01/30/the-revolving-door-oklahomas-gary-ridley-asphalt-lobbyist-dot-chief/
San Francisco’s scarce transportation funds should be used to make streets safer for walking and biking, and to make existing Muni service more reliable before expanding it, according to city residents who were asked to choose how to prioritize public spending. Photo: Keoki Seu/Flickr The findings come from the “Budget Czar” game, an online budgeting simulator recently [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2013/01/23/survey-sfs-top-transpo-priorities-are-fixing-muni-safer-walking-and-biking/
Oahu, Hawaii should be the ideal place to walk for transportation, but it has the nation’s highest pedestrian fatality rate for senior citizens – more than twice the next-highest state. So the state enacted a Complete Streets policy in 2009, seeking to “reasonably accommodate” everyone — “pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, motorists, and persons of all [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/12/19/do-seniors-want-the-livability-improvements-aarp-wants-for-them/
OK, truth: Raise your hand if you find federal transportation legislation intimidating and incomprehensible. T4America's new document will help communities improve mobility and keep everyone safer. Photo: T4America I thought so. Me too. The problem, as you know, is that it’s enormously important that advocates not only understand the new transportation law, MAP-21, but that they understand it [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/12/11/seven-jiu-jitsu-moves-for-advocates-to-use-map-21-to-their-own-advantage/
With the launch of Streetsblog’s year-end online pledge drive comes an exciting opportunity to win a sweet new bike. Thanks to our friends at Bicycle Habitat, over in NYC, everyone who gives $50 or more online will be entered to win a new Specialized Sirrus or a Vita hybrid bike. If you win, you can choose which one of [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/12/06/give-to-streetsblog-sf-and-you-could-win-a-new-bike/
The north side of the University Avenue overpass over Highway 101 has no bike lane and a four-foot sidewalk. Pictured: Brent Butler, East Palo Alto Planning Manager, leads Streetsblog on a tour of the area. Photo: Bryan Goebel. East Palo Alto was recently awarded $5 million to build a freeway off-ramp designed a decade ago that [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/12/05/in-east-palo-alto-meager-bikeped-funding-leads-to-half-baked-safety-fixes/
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article included Robert Dold as the fifth potential aisle-crosser. I’ve since been informed that Dold lost his re-election bid this year. Charlie Bass and Judy Biggert, named briefly at the bottom for supporting the Senate transportation bill and Amtrak funding, also lost their elections, making this list even shorter. First Rep. [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/12/04/five-republicans-who-might-work-across-the-aisle-on-transportation/
Friday's panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center. From left: Moderator Jeffrey Shane; Doug Foy, former head of Massachusetts' Office of Commonwealth Development; Janet Kavinoky of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Ryan Holeywell of Governing Magazine; Pete Ruane of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association; and David Traynham of The Boeing Company. Photo: Tanya Snyder If [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/12/03/eight-burning-questions-about-post-election-transpo-policy-and-politics/
The Better Market Street project, a multi-agency effort to overhaul San Francisco’s main thoroughfare for walking, bicycling and transit, may have trouble staying on schedule, to the frustration of some city supervisors. Image: bettermarketstreetsf.org At a recent hearing of the SF County Transportation Authority Board, which is comprised of the Board of Supervisors, staff from the SFCTA [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/11/06/supes-grill-planners-for-repeated-delays-on-better-market-street-project/
Brent Butler, the East Palo Alto planning manager, leads Streetsblog on a tour of the University Avenue highway overpass. The bike rider on the right chooses to walk across the overpass. Photo: Bryan Goebel Margaret Pye has been bike commuting from San Carlos to her job at a law firm in Palo Alto for the past [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/11/01/advocates-san-mateo-county-needs-full-time-bikeped-coordinator/
A highway overpass with a narrow sidewalk is the only connection for residents on the west side of East Palo Alto who need to walk or bike to access the east side. Photos: Bryan Goebel This is the first in a series of stories on East Palo Alto’s proposed bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing. It takes Maria [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/10/25/divided-by-a-highway-east-palo-alto-looks-to-reconnect-its-west-side/
Photo: THE Holy Hand Grenade!/Flickr Alameda County could usher in a new era of progressive transportation projects if voters pass a proposed half-cent sales tax increase known as Measure B1 on November 6. Measure B1 would generate a projected $7.8 billion over the next 30 years for projects selected using a “complete streets” approach aimed at improving [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/10/24/on-the-ballot-a-key-to-alameda-countys-sustainable-transportation-future/
We do a lot of transportation coverage at Streetsblog, but, as we all know, the way people get around fits into a bigger picture: the way communities function. When we talk about streets we’re also talking about job access, quality of life, sustainability and health. The top ten regions that offer diverse housing options near jobs, [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/10/02/is-your-region-a-complete-community/
Image: Bike Pedantic Which should come first, good bike infrastructure or bike-share? This is a matter of some debate, and we don’t pretend to have a definitive answer. But we do have some instructive research. While it’s obviously ideal to have bike infrastructure prior to embarking on a bike-share program, many communities, like Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Dayton, [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/09/10/bike-share-and-bike-lanes-the-chicken-and-egg-debate/
Once again, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has proven what an agile, modern coalition of transportation agencies is capable of. It was just a year and a half ago that NACTO released its first Urban Bikeway Design Guide and today, it’s released the first update to that guide. A bicycle boulevard sign in Madison, Wisconsin. Image: NACTO NACTO’s guide [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/09/06/nacto-beats-the-clock-with-quick-update-of-bike-guide
Cincinnati, a midsized river city in the generally anti-urban state of Ohio, is — surprise! — becoming a real leader in sustainable urban development. Work on the city’s hard-won streetcar project is underway now, to the ire of the state’s governor and the region’s congressman. Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine, via UrbanCincy But Mayor Mark Mallory and the city’s [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/08/30/no-more-suburban-office-parks-for-downtown-cincinnati/
Three-Foot Bike Passing Bill Approved by CA Assembly, On to Gov. Brown for Signature (CBC) Assembly Also Approves Bill That Would Provide Some CEQA Exemption for Bike Lanes (LAT) More on Sunday Streets in Chinatown Last Weekend (SFGate) Crescent Heights Neighbors Say Moved 23 Muni Bus Stop “Really Sucks” (Bernalwood) BAYCAT Kids Produce Movie About Muni Riders and Drivers (Muni [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/08/28/todays-headlines-880/
Here’s an interesting commentary on how livable streets advocates measure progress. The Ohio Department of Transportation is completing a cycle track on one of Cleveland's bridges, but the city's bike infrastructure is still pretty piecemeal. Photo: Sarah LaMarca Jacob VanSickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland (where I’m a volunteer board member), made an important point recently on [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/08/21/cleveland-progressing-on-bike-policy-still-falling-behind/
From left: former Gov. Chet Culver (D-IA), NPR editor Christopher Swope, former Gov. Parris Glendening (D-MD), former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R-NJ), former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-PA) -- at yesterday's launch of the federal collaboration with the Governors' Institute on Community Design. Photo: Tanya Snyder As yesterday’s post about Oklahoma [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/08/02/governors-get-on-board-with-smart-growth/
Over the past two weeks, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association has sent letters to the Republican National Committee [PDF] and the Democratic National Committee [PDF], asking them to consider inserting a plank in their platforms about transportation. And they were clear in their letter that, despite being major cheerleaders for road-building, the future they see [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/26/highway-builders-to-party-leaders-the-future-is-more-than-just-roadways/
Tearing down highways, as New Haven, Connecticut is planning to do to a short section of Route 34, is a rare (though increasingly sought after) outcome in American transportation policy. Some highway removals are unintended consequences of neglect or disaster, like the collapse of New York’s Miller Highway and the damage caused to San Francisco’s [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/25/when-livability-projects-meet-eisenhower-era-design-standards/
On the calendar this week: your chance to train as an ambassador for BART’s Bikes on Board August pilot, SPUR makes the case for linking Silicon Valley and Hollywood with high-speed rail, and more. Here are all the highlights from the Streetsblog calendar: Monday: SF Land Use and Economic Development Committee Meeting. The committee will consider a planning code [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/07/23/this-week-become-an-ambassador-for-bikes-on-bart/
Let’s say you worked for a city that was trying to revitalize a piece of land with a bunch of dilapidated buildings on it. You want to build some residences and some retail space, and you want to make better connections to the street grid. Congratulations – HUD and U.S. DOT both have money to [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/19/why-congress-cant-kill-the-partnership-for-sustainable-communities/
This map shows roughly how much states are spending on bike and pedestrian projects that are not part of a larger road project. Click on the image to see the full interactive map. How’s your state doing on bike and pedestrian investment? Transit? Bridge repair? Congress just reauthorized the national law that funnels tens of billions of dollars [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/17/how-does-your-state-stack-up-on-prioritizing-transit-and-street-safety/
Join one of the Better Market Street workshops this week to help envision the future of San Francisco’s most important corridor. East Bay Bus Rapid Transit also goes up for final approvals at the Oakland and San Leandro city councils this week, and Sunday Streets returns to Bayview and Dogpatch neighborhoods. Here are all the highlights from the Streetsblog [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/07/16/this-week-visions-for-a-better-market-street/
David Burwell is the director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was also co-founder and CEO of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and a founding co-chair and president of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national transportation policy reform coalition. There is much despair in the transportation reform community about the [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/07/05/buck-up-reformers-despite-the-hard-knocks-this-bill-is-a-step-forward/
The House of Representatives approved the transportation bill conference report this afternoon by a vote of 373 to 52. [UPDATE 4:00 PM: The Senate has also approved the bill, 74-19.] This is a bill that’s been called “a death blow to mass transit” by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “a step backwards for America’s transportation system” [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/06/29/a-new-bill-passes-but-americas-transpo-policy-stays-stuck-in-20th-century/
Transportation for America, the big-tent coalition for transportation reform, tends to be careful about the statements it puts out. Its folks are diplomatic, since they work with both sides on the Hill and a wide variety of coalition members. Yesterday, as details of the conference report were leaking out, they wanted to read the whole [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/06/28/complete-streets-provision-eliminated-from-final-transpo-bill/
Professor Donald Shoup poses a parking question at UCLA’s Complete Streets for California event in March. Photo: Juan Matute [Editor's note: The full letter from Donald Shoup to the American Planning Association on AB 904 can be found after the jump.] In 2004, when the American Institute of Certified Planners inducted Donald Shoup as a fellow – the American Planning Association’s [...]
la.streetsblog.org/2012/06/19/donald-shoup-responds-to-california-apa-regarding-californias-parking-reform-bill/
Just yesterday Virginia was receiving accolades for its successful, bipartisan rail expansion efforts. But the praise is giving way to criticism today. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell wants to overhaul the way the state distributes transportation money in the middle of a budget year. Why? Photo: Queerty There are some weird politics going on in the commonwealth, which [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/06/19/is-virginia-gov-bob-mcdonnell-pulling-a-scott-walker/
Learn more about the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project at Tuesday’s SFCTA meeting or at one of several neighborhood outreach meetings the following week. You can also weigh in on bicycle access plans for BART’s ”Fleet of the Future” cars at Oakland’s BPAC meeting Thursday, while the weekend gets started with the Bicycle Music Festival in Golden Gate [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/06/18/this-week-geary-corridor-brt-and-barts-fleet-of-the-future/
TxDOT is broke, at least according to the agency’s actual records. But a funny thing tends to happen when someone in Texas wants to build an enormous highway — money appears, as if from nowhere. Yep, that's a city that needs more highways. Photo: Freelance Crunch We saw this in the case of Houston’s Grand Parkway, the [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/06/13/ta-da-money-for-highways-appears-out-of-nowhere-in-texas/
8 Washington Developer Offers Parking Concessions Ahead of Tuesday’s Supe Vote (City Insider) Muni Negates Prop G Benefits in Hiring Full-Time Drivers (SF Examiner, Bay Citizen) SFMTA Appoints New Director of Capital Programs and Construction (Mass Transit Mag) Despite Noise Laws, SF Tour Buses Still Causing Disruptions (SFGate) Parking Meter Opponents ENUF Launched Website in April (SFWeekly) SFBC’s Golden Wheel Awards Honors Champions, Looks [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/06/07/todays-headlines-822/
Decisions about cycling infrastructure don’t really come down to money, or technical knowhow, or even the availability of street space. Ultimately, if you establish community consent and political will to make streets safe for cycling, the rest will follow. Here’s an interesting method to build the needed support: pop-up cycling infrastructure. This exercise in tactical urbanism [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/06/04/cleveland-building-public-support-with-pop-up-cycling-infrastructure/
The new Transbay Transit Center is expected to transform San Francisco’s downtown core by focusing new development around a massive regional transit hub in eastern SoMa. Scheduled to open in 2017, it will link 11 transit systems and eventually CA High-Speed Rail. Some have called it the ”Grand Central of the West.” Renderings via TransbayCenter.org The SF Planning Commission last week [...]
sf.streetsblog.org/2012/06/01/transbay-transit-center-to-fill-downtown-with-people-not-cars/
When it comes to Agenda 21, you’ve got to at least give the the far-right credit for effective messaging. A recent cover from Glenn Beck's magazine, The Blaze. Photo: Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space The Agenda 21 conspiracy theory was popularized by the great fearmonger and overpriced gold-salesman Glenn Beck. Inventing this scourge to American [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/06/01/agenda-21-conspiracy-theory-completely-absurd-frighteningly-effective/
Editor’s note: Last month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood invited Streetsblog readers to submit questions for a Q&A installment on his blog, Fast Lane. Here are his answers. In my “On The Go,” series, I only get time to answer a few questions. But — like the Streetsblog community — I never get tired of talking about [...]
dc.streetsblog.org/2012/05/30/ray-lahood-on-making-room-for-everyone-on-americas-streets/
We’ve been reporting on the Trinity Toll Road proposal in Dallas, yet another downtown highway with a tremendous cost. Dallas wants to add another downtown freeway. Jason Roberts says the city will soon have to confront the limits to car-based planning. Photo: Freelancecrunch.com This Dallas highway proposal could turn out differently than previous ones. There is real [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/05/10/will-dallas-buckle-under-the-weight-of-so-much-asphalt/
A growing number of communities across the country now have complete streets policies — somewhere in the neighborhood of 280, if you want to get specific. But now comes the hard part: implementing those policies on real streets. The city of Cleveland recently installed a temporary, "pop-up" cycle track. But can the city get used to [...]
streetsblog.net/2012/05/01/so-you-have-a-complete-streets-policy-now-what/
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