Ben Fried

The folks at Google Maps "Bike There" -- the blog dedicated to getting the world's foremost information cruncher to include bike directions in its trip planning tools -- noticed an encouraging development yesterday. On Google's LatLong blog, embedded in a post about a new layer of base data in Google Maps, we now have a pretty direct acknowledgment straight from the source: Bike directions are coming.

I had the chance to listen in yesterday to top staffers from USDOT explain their collaboration with HUD and the EPA -- the "Partnership for Livable Communities" that was first unveiled in March and touted again by President Obama in July. Three officials, including one of Ray LaHood's top deputies, Beth Osborne, outlined their plans via conference call to several hundred people from all parts of the country.

Here's some incredible out-of-town road rage, via TreeHugger. A motorist in Asheville, North Carolina was so incensed by the sight of a father biking with his 3-year-old kid mounted on a rear seat, that he pulled over and fired a gun at the cycling dad's head:

The government's Cash for Clunkers program officially begins today, but car dealers have been running ads like this one for a while already. They have to keep the public informed: Now you can trade in your old car and buy a brand-new SUV or pick-up truck with a hefty assist from Uncle Sam.

Advocates in cities across the country are mobilizing today to support increased federal funding for transit service. Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT) a national coalition focused on bringing "environmental justice and civil rights priorities to the upcoming federal surface transportation act," is calling on representatives in the House to co-sponsor H.R. 2746, which would allow transit agencies to spend more of their federal funds on day-to-day operations.

After reading about a new Pew Poll that found 88 percent of Americans believe they can't live without a car, I couldn't help thinking of this cartoon from John Akre -- who also gave us Cars for Hats. Car dependence has never looked so terrifying.

Another must-read from last week's Reuters Infrastructure Summit: Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who will be responsible for shepherding the next transportation bill through the Senate, says she's open to a mileage tax and to indexing the gas tax to inflation to generate new revenue.

The indignities are piling up for Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate Secretary of Energy whom environmentalists applauded as one of Obama's best cabinet picks. His security detail won't let the lifelong cyclist bike to work. And on Earth Day, he fielded questions like this one (via Talking Points Memo) during a House hearing on the proposed climate bill. Texas representative Joe Barton asked Chu where oil comes from, and the Energy Secretary delved into plate tectonics. Barton boasted afterward that he had "baffled" Chu.