Op-Ed: Learning from Nashville’s Transit Failure
Ballot measures can expand and improve transit. But if Nashville is any example, it can backfire. Here are some lessons all cities can learn.
January 29, 2020
Uber and Lyft Are Overwhelming Urban Streets, and Cities Need to Act Fast
Contrary to the story Uber, Lyft, and their peers like to tell, ride-hailing services are not reducing traffic in American cities. Nor will they, even if they meet their goals for converting solo passenger trips to shared rides, according to new research from transportation analyst Bruce Schaller.
July 27, 2018
Welcome to the New and Improved Streetsblog
For the first time in nearly nine years, we’re debuting a sitewide redesign of Streetsblog. There were two main goals we wanted to accomplish with this redesign: creating a portal for quick access to important recent stories across every Streetsblog site, and upgrading the front end of the site to work well on the full range of devices that people use to consume media.
December 14, 2016
Looking to Quito’s BRT as a Model for Milwaukee
With Milwaukee looking to implement a BRT system connecting downtown to the suburb of Wauwatosa, Ken Smith of Urban Milwaukee was eager to get a look at how BRT works in Quito, when he was in the city for the recent UN Habitat III summit. The system impressed him, and Smith wonders if Milwaukee will be able to duplicate the factors that make Quito's BRT successful.
November 15, 2016
Do Not Collaborate With Hatred
On the day after the election, I watched as Chuck Schumer and Andrew Cuomo, Democrats who represent my state, said they could find common ground with Donald Trump, with Cuomo specifically mentioning “infrastructure” as a potential area of collaboration. Today I’m writing about far more urgent and important reasons to oppose Trump and his agenda.
November 14, 2016
What Changed Yesterday, and What Didn’t
America just elected Donald Trump, who got a foothold in national politics by fanning a conspiracy about Barack Obama’s country of origin, who ran a campaign premised on a naked appeal to racist anger and resentment, who shredded every norm of conduct on his way to the presidency. He’s going to occupy the White House for at least the next four years, and for at least two years the Democratic opposition won’t control either house of Congress.
November 9, 2016
Before You Get Too Excited About Seattle’s Big Transit Expansion…
Read Doug Trumm's post at the Urbanist about Sound Transit's $50 billion, 25-year expansion plan, known as ST3, which the agency revealed yesterday. It's ambitious in scope, but will the new lines meet the region's most pressing transit needs?
March 25, 2016
A Car-Free Downtown and Other Ideas From Portland’s Mayoral Debate
It's always interesting to see what mayoral candidates say about streets and transportation in a public debate. Who's done their homework on transportation policy? Who understands in their gut why better streets for walking, biking, and transit are good for the city? Which candidates are willing to take a stand on these issues while making their case to voters?
March 2, 2016
Straightening Out the Vestigial Kinks in Bus Routes
Just a few months after Houston reorganized its bus network to provide more frequent service where more people can use it -- without increasing the operating budget -- ridership is already on the upswing.
January 11, 2016
If Congress Cared About Climate, Its Transport Bill Would Look Much Different
With a few exceptions, the five-year transportation bill heading to President Obama's desk continues what has been the core function of federal transportation policy for more than 60 years -- sending a ton of money to the states to spend on highways.
December 4, 2015