Streetsblog San Francisco

Today we associate the Netherlands with top-notch bike infrastructure and some of the safest streets in the world. But 40 years ago it was tearing down buildings for parking garages and constructing wide roads through the centers of its cities and towns. It was a grassroots movement, Stop de Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder), that turned the tide and led to the transformation of Dutch streets.

The emergence of app-based taxis and private city bus services has prompted a lot of handwringing about the emergence of a "two-tiered" or "stratified" transportation system.

I grew up on Long Island, five miles from Levittown -- the first mass-produced, suburban development in the country. When I was a small child, in the 1970s, we played in the street. A car came occasionally. It would stop and wait while we picked up our ball and stepped aside. Then the driver would wave and smile and trundle past.

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A new study from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy attempts to measure the potential of bikes and e-bikes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This will be my final post as editor of Streetsblog SF. Thanks to everyone who's read and supported the site during the four years I've led it. I hope to see you around in my new role.

Since I announced my departure from Streetsblog, folks have asked about my next move. Well, I'm not going far: I've accepted a position on the SF Municipal Transportation Agency's public relations team.

After four terrific years running Streetsblog San Francisco, Aaron is moving on. Before I get to the job opening, I'd like to pay my respects to his body of work.

I like to say that the best career move I ever made was joining a Critical Mass ride and striking up a conversation with a fellow rider about the Streetsblog sticker on his helmet. That rider happened to be Bryan Goebel, Streetsblog SF's first editor, who would later offer me the opportunity of a lifetime.