Los Angeles a Model Transit City?
Is LA setting a global transit example? (Photo: hustle roses via Flickr) Today on the Streetsblog Network, Jarrett Walker at Human Transit talks about how the push for better transit in Los Angeles provides an example for planners in other parts of the world, especially in newer cities that don’t benefit from European-style density. Walker … Continued
March 31, 2010
Why Fort Worth Needs Its Streetcar
Will Fort Worth move forward on the streetcar? (Photo illustration: Fort Worthology) We heard yesterday from Streetsblog Network member Kevin Buchanan of Fort Worthology about a threat to the planned streetcar project in Fort Worth, Texas. It seems like the City Council is dragging its feet in going forward with the design process, and might … Continued
March 30, 2010
What’s So Scary About Bicycle Infrastructure?
Better bicycle infrastructure is no threat to trucks. (Photo: Wayan Vota via Flickr) Statements made by U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood in recent weeks — including one regarding “the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized” — have gotten a lot of favorable coverage from members of the Streetsblog Network. But they’ve … Continued
March 29, 2010
Older People Need Safer Streets for True Independence
This is what independence really looks like. (Photo: kamshots via Flickr) Probably all of us have watched as an aging relative fights to keep on driving despite deteriorating vision or other impairments. I know of one case in which a woman essentially stole her mother’s car so that the older lady, who suffered from dementia, … Continued
March 26, 2010
A School Where You Have to Use Your Own Two Feet
Isn’t this a pleasant way to travel? (Photo: D Sharon Pruitt via Flickr) In my Brooklyn neighborhood, one of the most walkable and transit-rich in the country, the streets near schools fill up every morning and afternoon with parents dropping off and picking up their kids in cars. They double-park, they idle, they block bike … Continued
March 25, 2010
Revisiting the Idea of a Bicycle Tax
The city of Tucson has some nice-looking bicycle infrastructure. Now the City Council is looking at imposing bike registration fees, even though the system wouldn’t even pay for itself. (Photo: Steven Vance via Flickr) Two different methods of making bicycle riders pay for roads came over the feed on the Streetsblog Network over the last … Continued
March 24, 2010
What We’re Really Saying When We Say “Alternative”
The word "alternative" is one of the most fraught in the English
language. While it can have some positive connotations, especially for
those who want to be seen as opposing the mainstream (like "alternative
newspapers"), when used by those within the mainstream, it is
usually a not-so-subtle dismissal. If you hear someone talking about
"people who live alternative lifestyles," there’s a good chance what
they mean is "those freaks that I have nothing in common with."
March 23, 2010
Getting Romantic About Transit
Love at the bus stop. (Photo: lucam via Flickr) Today on the Streetsblog Network, we came across a sweet post from one of our favorite network members — Seattle’s Carla Saulter, better known as Bus Chick. She’s celebrating a milestone — seven years of living car-free. And she takes the occasion to share some memories: … Continued
March 22, 2010
Getting More Women on Bicycles
More women on bikes means healthier bike facilities for all. (Photo: boxchain via Flickr) Are you a woman who rides a bicycle? Or are you a woman who would like to ride a bicycle? Then the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) needs you to participate in a survey about women and girls and … Continued
March 19, 2010
How Can Bicycles and Buses Share the Road Safely
Yesterday morning, Megan Charlop was killed by a bus in the Bronx after apparently being doored and knocked into traffic by the driver of a parked car while riding her bike. Anyone who regularly rides a bicycle in New York City or or anywhere else knows that potentially fatal bus-bicycle interactions are common. Conflicts between buses and bikes are often created or exacerbated by double-parked cars or drivers who open their doors without looking, but there is also often a lack of clarity about how bus drivers and bicyclists should interact as they share the road. As a result, it can be scary and confusing to ride along bus routes.
March 18, 2010