Google Bike Routes — Almost Here?
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.
October 14, 2009
Can State DOTs Be Trained to Kick the Sprawl Habit?
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.
September 25, 2009
Always Wear a Bullet-Proof Helmet
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:
July 28, 2009
Ad Nauseam: What “Cash for Clunkers” Hath Wrought
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.
July 24, 2009
Advocating for a Transpo Bill That Keeps Transit Riders Moving
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.
July 22, 2009
Cartoon Tuesday: Beware of the Ouchies
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.
May 12, 2009
Boxer: Collect Fees on Driving Through ‘Honor System’
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.
May 11, 2009
Steven Chu Forced to Recant Belief in Higher Gas Prices
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.
April 24, 2009