Day: August 20, 2008
Streetsblog LA
Wiki Wednesday: Beijing
All the overhead shots of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube on NBC's Olympic coverage don't leave much room for views of Beijing's streets. But that's where much of the commotion about smog, absentee athletes and particle masks originates. While the city has taken the unwieldy step of rationing license plates to clear the skies (until the Games leave town, at least), air quality could have been drastically improved by transportation planning with greater foresight.
August 20, 2008
Study: OC Taxes More Regressive Than Tolls
A new study by researchers at UCLA and USC calculates the cost to people of lower income of funding transportation with toll revenue and compares it to other ways of funding transportation. The study concludes that tolls, especially congestion pricing tolls, are among the most progressive ways to raise funds. The study reaches this conclusion by comparing the source of funds generated by HOT Lane tolls on SR-91 with fees collected from taxes in Orange County.
August 20, 2008
Leaving Cars Behind, Seniors Find Streets Inhospitable
A recent poll conducted by AARP finds that Americans over the age of 50 are cutting down on car trips due to rising gas prices, but are finding public infrastructure, or lack thereof, to be an obstacle.
August 20, 2008
Explanation of Rising Speed Limits: “The Public Votes with the Gas Pedal”
In recent weeks, CityWatch has done a fantastic job explaining why speed limits are rising throughout the city and why those limits are determined by speeding drivers and not the communities that have to deal with the speeding traffic.
August 20, 2008
Today’s Headlines
Study Finds Congestion Pricing Doesn’t Hurt the Poor (Bottleneck Blog) Is Caltrans Widening 2nd? (BlogDowntown) City Updating Bike Master Plan (LA Eastside) Santa Monica Anti-Growth Proposition Titled “T” as in “Traffic” (LAist) Senate Send Gov. Legislation on Tolls, Taxis and Driving While Armed (Times) Long Beach Senator Wants to Make Electric Cars Louder (Daily News) … Continued
August 20, 2008