Matthew Roth
Recent Posts
California’s Pay as You Drive Insurance Program Could Reduce Driving
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(Editor’s note – If you don’t read Streetsblog San Francisco, you’ll be saddened to hear that our friend Matthew Roth, our sister site’s Deputy Editor, is leaving to pursue other ambitions. This is his last post. Matt, you’ll be missed. – DN) The California Department of Insurance has approved a pay-as-you-drive insurance program encouraged by […]
Forget High-Speed Rail, Let’s Get High-Speed Buses
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I would put this up there with China’s proposal for huge buses that allow cars to drive under them, but it’s still worth a good laugh. Who needs shoulders on highways anyway?!
California High Speed Rail Authority Gives Itself an Online Facelift
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As California’s high speed rail project continues to gain attention, both positive and negative, the makeup of visitors to the official website has been shifting, with an increasing number of general public who know very little about the project, according to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA). In response to this trend and based […]
California’s Personal Vehicle Sharing Law Could Diminish Need to Own a Car
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As more teens wait to get their licenses and young adults drive fewer miles annually, advertisers have begun to point to advances in digital technology to explain the trend. Many younger adults use digital media to connect to their friends virtually, the argument goes, and technological innovations will likely reduce the incentive to own and […]
Proposition 23 Opponents: Climate Change Impacts National Security
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Climate change is a national security risk that will be exacerbated if Californians pass Proposition 23, the voter initiative on the ballot this November that would suspend California’s AB 32 climate change law, say opponents of the measure, such as former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. Shultz and financier Thomas Steyer, co-chairs of the […]
Federal Civil Rights Review Raises Governance Questions at MTC
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The long-term impacts to transportation funding as a result of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) civil rights compliance probe of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) won’t be clear for some time, but the action by the federal administration has transportation policy circles buzzing. Experts in civil rights and regional planning policy couldn’t point to another […]
New Jersey Transit Village Program Continues to Grow
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Image: Town of Somerville The holy grail for many urbanists contemplating long-term development and growth trends is the transit village. Adding growth adjacent to functional transit has the benefit of making it easier for the new population there to drive less and use transit for a multitude of trips. Likewise, transit villages can add to […]
California Debates Targets for Landmark Anti-Sprawl Bill
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Photo: Mark Strozier As California’s big four metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) run models to determine how much they can influence California’s growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, significant questions remain. The state’s Senate Bill 375, typically referred to as the Anti-Sprawl Bill, requires that planners and policy makers develop meaningful solutions to reduce sprawl, reduce […]
Battle Lines Drawn Over AB 32 As Oil Companies Qualify Ballot Measure
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Photo: Thomas Hawk. Though California Secretary of State Debra Bowen yesterday certified a November ballot measure asking voters to suspend AB 32, a landmark state law requiring a significant cut in greenhouse gas emissions, AB 32 supporters have been organizing for months and have formed a significant coalition to fight the initiative. In a move […]
Jon Stewart’s Stinging Rebuke of Presidential Promises to Get off Oil
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The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c An Energy-Independent Future www.thedailyshow.com Jon Stewart fired one of his more brilliant salvos last night, synthesizing 40 years of political posturing around energy independence and America’s addiction to foreign oil in just under eight minutes of pointed satire. Using President Obama’s Oval Office […]
Bamboo Bike Studio Fabricators Make a Pit Stop in San Francisco
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Bamboo Bicycle Studio bike. Photos: Matthew Roth. On the way to a local caffeination recharging station near Mint Plaza last week, I locked my bicycle next to two very odd rides: The frames were bamboo and the bamboo tubes were connected with fiberglass. The frames looked solid, but seeing a bike that wasn’t made of […]
California Poised to Allow Personal Vehicle Sharing Services
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Photo: The Sierra Club Car sharing is a growth industry, as pioneer City CarShare would tell you, and it has beneficial environmental and economic impacts. Studies of car sharing services like Zipcar and City CarShare show that for every car that is shared, up to 15 private vehicles are taken off the road. Owning and […]