The More People Live and Work in Central Philly, the Less Parking They Use
Here's a great example of a "virtuous cycle" in action: Center City Philadelphia has seen the number of parking spaces decline recently as population and jobs continue to rise at a healthy clip.
June 29, 2016
“Opportunity Score” Shows Best Places to Find a Job Without Owning a Car
Which places put economic opportunity within reach for residents who don't own cars?
June 28, 2016
Philly Gets a Boost From U.S. DOT to Mend Neighborhoods Split By a Highway
Earlier this year Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said he wants to help repair the damage done to cities by highways. And this week U.S. DOT took some steps to make that happen, announcing the winners of its "Every Place Counts Design Challenge."
June 28, 2016
How to Counter the Victim-Blaming Impulse After a Traffic Crash
When a driver strikes someone walking or biking, the tendency to blame the victim runs deep. Ask Raquel Nelson, who lost her young son to a hit-and-run driver, then got convicted for vehicular homicide, even though she was just trying to walk across the street with her children from a bus stop to her home. Or witness the reaction to the death of Amanda Phillips, who was struck by a truck driver while biking in Boston last week.
June 27, 2016
What If “Commuter Rail” Was for Everyone, Not Just 9-to-5 Commuters?
Rhode Island has been investing in commuter rail -- long distance service connecting Providence to Boston and towns in between. But lackluster ridership at a new park-and-ride rail station at the end of the line (by a Walmart!) is sapping support for much more useful investments, reports Sandy Johnston at Itinerant Urbanist.
June 24, 2016
4 Ways Road Builders Game the Numbers to Justify Highways
The people who make the case for highways often present themselves as unbiased technicians, simply providing evidence to an audience subject to irrational bias.
June 24, 2016
Columbus Wins $50 Million “Smart City” Grant. What Put It Over the Top?
U.S. DOT announced the winner of its $50 million "Smart City" grant yesterday, and Columbus, Ohio, bested finalists San Francisco, Portland, Austin, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Denver for the prize. Many other cities had applied for this federal funding to demonstrate how new technologies can improve urban streets and transportation.
June 22, 2016
Beyond Fitness: The Social Benefits of Open Streets Events
It's a beautiful thing to witness just how much neighborhood streets can change when you remove car traffic. As open streets events, modeled after Bogotá's Ciclovia, have spread across the U.S. in the past several years, they've brought not just opportunities for physical activity, but a joyful new way to use streets as public spaces.
June 20, 2016
What Gun Violence and Traffic Violence Have in Common
The horrific mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando has prompted some soul-searching about America's ability to take significant steps to curb gun violence. Congress did nothing to control guns after dozens of young kids were massacred at Sandy Hook. Will the loss of 49 innocent lives finally lead officials to take action?
June 17, 2016
Anthony Foxx to Local Officials: Transport Policy Should Tackle Segregation
Local transportation officials should actively work to reduce segregation and promote equal access to quality schools, three Cabinet members say in a "dear colleague" letter released last week [PDF].
June 16, 2016