Month: February 2010

The days are numbered for the military vehicle that carmakers turned into the bane of pedestrians, cyclists and planet Earth. GM has announced plans to wind down Hummer production after a deal to sell the brand to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart. According to the Times, the Chinese government wanted no part of Hummer because it is "trying to put a new emphasis on limiting China’s dependence on imported oil and protecting the environment."

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

About forty cyclists took part in the rally and bike ride to city hall in support of Ed Magos, the cyclist maimed in a hit and run Downtown by a Porsche Cayene last month. After a brief rally, the group headed down to City Hall to take part in the City Council Transportation Committee featuring a "Town Hall" format with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

Megan McArdle at the Atlantic, writing on today's Toyota hearing in the House oversight committee, hears Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood claim that "lowering the speed limit to 30 mph would not save any lives, which is why we have minimum speeds on highways."

Earlier this morning, the Bus Rider's Union rallied at the Wilshire/Western Transit Station to urge the Metro Board to not go forward with planned fare hikes for Metro bus and rail services until a full public hearing schedule is announced and executed. In May of 2007, the Metro Board adopted a motion to increase fares on July 1 of that year and again on July 1, 2009. As part of Measure R, the 2009 fare increase was postponed until this year. As a result, the BRU is pushing for an open hearing process, because by the day of the new fares, it will have been over three years since the last hearing on the hikes. From their press release:

Long Beach's ambitious campaign to become the Most Bicycle Friendly City in America is well underway. The Second St. sharrows debuted to much fanfare last summer, followed by bike boxes nearby on Second st. and Marina ave. Recently, the city has selected contractors for its Vista Bike Boulevard and Broadway/Third St. bike lane projects, with completion to come in four to five months. In the meantime, a new numbered bikeway project has been quietly debuting across the city.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa Jackson extended an olive branch this week to lawmakers who are pushing to block her from regulating carbon emissions in the absence of a congressional climate bill, but Jackson's promise to delay action until next year appears to have made no headway with Republicans and coal-state Democrats. 

There's a lot going on around the Streetsblog Network today. From A Place of Sense, in Indianapolis, comes a post about that city's parking policies. A developer there, seeking to renovate an abandoned apartment building in an area with many parking lots, requested a variance from the city's requirement that developments provide their own off-street parking. The request was denied, and the building will remain vacant for the foreseeable future.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill