Get Ready for Uber’s “Flying Cars” Conference to Generate Lots of Dumb Headlines
Whizzing above the city may sound appealing in a Jetsons sort of way, but Uber's thinking on this technology is completely untethered from its impact on the cities and towns below, where the people are.
April 25, 2017
It’s Hard to Overstate the Health Benefits of Biking to Work
A massive new study of commuters in the United Kingdom reveals that people who bike to work tend to live longer and are at lower risk of heart disease and cancer. While the study establishes correlation but doesn't prove causation, the size of the sample and the magnitude of the effects strongly suggest that biking to work can yield major health benefits.
April 24, 2017
Peak Sprawl? The Fringes of the New York Region Are Shrinking
A new report out of Rutgers University [PDF] reveals that since 2010, the fringes of the New York region have lost population as the core has grown, a reversal of the sprawling pattern that predominated starting in 1950, when the suburbs grew and the city shrank.
October 2, 2014
EPA Rejects New York’s Clean Water Money Grab for Highway Bridge
This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency rejected the $510.9 million federal loan New York state had requested from a clean water program to pay for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project. Only $29 million worth of TZB work is eligible for clean water money, the EPA's regional office ruled, averting a dangerous precedent that could have let governors across the country raid environmental funds to pay for highways.
September 16, 2014
New Report Out of NYC: Protected Bike Lanes Improve Safety for Everyone
In sync with Bicycling Magazine naming New York America's best biking city, the NYC Department of Transportation released a report this week full of stats on the safety impact of protected bike lanes. It's the most robust data the city has released about this type of street design, and the results prove that protected bike lanes make streets safer not just for cyclists, but pedestrians and drivers as well.
September 8, 2014
Don’t Hate the Parking App Profiteers, Hate the Free Parking Game
Haystack, the latest app allowing drivers to sell access to a parking space, blazed across the Internet this month after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh threatened to ban it. Valleywag called it a "scourge." The Awl compared it to profiteering off access to clean water. The haters have it wrong though: The apps aren't screwing over the public -- local governments are.
July 31, 2014
How to Measure the Economic Effect of Livable Streets
When a street redesign to prioritize walking, biking, or transit is introduced, the headlines are predictable: A handful of business owners scream bloody murder. Anecdotes from grumpy merchants tend to dominate the news coverage, but what's the real economic impact of projects like Select Bus Service, pedestrian plazas, road diets and protected bike lanes? How can it be measured?
December 23, 2013
Parents of 3 Year Old Toddler Killed by SUV in NYC Crosswalk: ‘We Challenge Drivers to Pause and Ask – Is It Worth It?’
Last month, three year-old Allison Liao was crossing Main Street in Flushing with her grandmother when an SUV driver turned left, hitting and killing the toddler while she had the walk signal in the crosswalk. Yesterday in Jackson Heights, Liao's parents marched with the families and friends of other traffic violence victims, and made this powerful plea for a safer driving culture.
November 13, 2013
Meet Streetmix, the Website Where You Can Design Your Own Street
Last fall, Lou Huang was at a community meeting for the initiative to redesign Second Street in San Francisco. Planners handed out paper cutouts, allowing participants to mix and match to create their ideal street. Huang, an urban designer himself, thought the exercise would make for a great website. Now, after months of work beginning at a January hackathon with colleagues at Code for America, it is a great website.
August 13, 2013
“The Daily Show” on Citi Bike: “Doesn’t Anybody Have a Real Objection?”
Forget the ridership numbers: you know you've hit the big time when Jon Stewart and company spend a full nine minutes satirizing you at the top of "The Daily Show."
June 7, 2013