Letters to David Brooks: Yes to Infrastructure, No to Highways
On Friday, New York Times columnist David Brooks joined the chorus
calling for more transportation investment, which came as something of
a surprise given his conservative pedigree. But Brooks has always had a
soft spot for the exurbs, and his proposed "National Mobility Project"
was predictably premised on the idea that transportation projects
should accommodate sprawl:
November 4, 2008
Time-Lapse Scrambling in Toronto
Here is a mesmerizing time-lapse video from Spacing Toronto and photoblogger Sam Javanrouh. The clip shows traffic moving through Toronto's pedestrian scramble -- a.k.a. priority crossing, a.k.a. Barnes Dance -- installed at Yonge and Dundas Streets last August.
October 31, 2008
Transit Blamed for Suburban St. Louis Crime
Last week Freakonomics picked up a story from the Riverfront Times
that connects an uptick in shoplifting, fighting and other crimes in
the St. Louis suburbs to a two-year-old expansion of the city's
MetroLink rail system.
October 30, 2008
Texas Governor Rick Perry Celebrates 18 Lanes of “Freedom”
Texas
officials this week marked the opening of new lanes on the Katy
Freeway, a stretch of Interstate 10 that runs 40 miles west from
downtown Houston. The state has added 20 miles of interior lanes,
including 12 miles of HOV lanes, which officials say will eventually be
converted to variable-rate HOT use. The rebuilt Katy Freeway is 18
lanes wide.
October 30, 2008
Wiki Wednesday: Zero VMT Vehicles
In a StreetsWiki entry on zero VMT vehicles,
Streetsblog regular gecko proposes that a focus on shifting mode share
to human-powered vehicles like bikes and the Aerorider (right) would be
the most efficient means to bring necessary reductions in greenhouse
gases, and would transform Manhattan, for one, into a bright green
paradise.
October 29, 2008
Wiki Wednesday: Safety in Numbers
In a StreetsWiki entry on Safety in Numbers, Andy Hamilton points to the theory stating that the more cyclists and pedestrians use the streets, the less likely they are to be injured. It’s an observation advanced by public health consultant Peter Jacobsen, but others have weighed in as well. Traffic engineer and amatuer bicycling expert … Continued
October 22, 2008
Portland Water Bureau Launches Bike/Truck Safety Campaign
Check out this video, via BikePortland.org, on bicycle safety, part of a Portland Water Bureau campaign to reduce truck-cyclist collisions there. Last month, the Water Bureau held a bike safety seminar, which involved cyclists climbing into the cab of a city truck to see (or not see) driver blind spots for themselves.
October 16, 2008