Month: April 2011
Streetsblog LA
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Traffic Calming
What's the most effective way to make city streets safer? As Chicago Alderman Mary Ann Smith told Streetfilms, "Signs don't do the job, even having police officers on the corner does not do the job." To prevent traffic injuries and deaths, you need to change how the street functions and make it feel slower for drivers. You need traffic calming.
April 7, 2011
GOP Budget Would Slash Transpo Spending, Entrench Oil Dependence
With the release of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal yesterday, right wing calls for massive cuts to transportation spending are now enshrined in the GOP leadership’s fiscal plan. Ryan singled out transportation as an area particularly ripe for cuts, criticized the use of gas tax revenues for projects that aren’t highways, and called for transportation spending levels to barely cover half of what President Obama requested in February.
April 7, 2011
City Planning for Its Parking Lot Future, Now That Privitization Is Off the Table
With the Mayor's proposal to lease out the maintenance, revenue collection, and profits of the city garages killed by the City Council earlier this year, the city has begun to move forward with other plans to maximize the revenue and efficiency of the city's publicly owned parking spaces and lots.
April 6, 2011
In Energy-Uncertain Future, Indiana DOT Bets That Nothing Will Change
Imagine for a second what transportation will be like in 2035. Will fossil fuels have been replaced by some new, not-yet-discovered energy source? Will the near-monopoly of car-based transportation systems still be viable thanks to vastly more efficient vehicles? Or will the costs of car-dependence become prohibitive, leading more of us to prefer living closer to where we work and shop, so we can save time and money by relying on effective transit networks and our ability to walk and bike?
April 6, 2011
House Members Make Their Case for Transpo Investment (and Earmarks)
While House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan grabbed headlines with the release of a fiscal plan that would severely constrain the federal transportation program (more on that later), the theme of the day at the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was the desperate need to invest in infrastructure, as members of Congress provided their own proposals to the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
April 6, 2011
Eyes on the Street: CicLAvia Is Coming…
Alissa Walker, known as Gelato Baby on twitter and the editor of GOOD L.A. everywhere else, spotted road closure signs already on the street for this Sunday's CicLAvia. If you're not aware, GOOD is having it's own L.A. party this weekend, including a bike ride on Saturday, and you can get all the details right here.
April 5, 2011
To Be Determined: A Quick Review of L.A. County’s Bike Plan
(This is the first of a two-part series. The second piece will look at some of the local maps and provide a more local review. - DN)
April 5, 2011