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It’s Time to Stop Pretending That Roads Pay for Themselves
If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by "user fees," a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls.
November 25, 2015
Planning for Less Driving, Not More, Would Lead to Big Savings
What if, instead of basing policy around the presumption that people will drive more every year, transportation agencies started making decisions to reduce the volume of driving? And what if they succeed?
November 24, 2015
TIGER Restored, Transit Expansion Funds Cut in 2016 Spending Bill
As the House and the Senate get to work on hashing out a multi-year transportation bill in conference committee, Congress is also putting together its annual spending package for transportation. The annual bill decides the fate of several discretionary programs, and earlier this year it looked like US DOT's TIGER grants, which tend to fund multi-modal projects at the regional or local level, might not survive.
November 23, 2015
“Bright Clothing” Isn’t the Answer to Pedestrian Deaths
So far this year, nine people have been killed while walking in Columbus, Ohio. Predictably, pedestrians have been caught up in the police response, as the cops increased enforcement of jaywalking. It got even worse with comments from Sergeant Brooke Wilson made to the local NPR station.
November 18, 2015
Why Transit Agencies Are Looking to Taxis and Uber to Provide Paratransit
In a six-month pilot program, Boston's MBTA is exploring the use of taxis as an alternative to large vans for paratransit service, which is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
November 17, 2015
Speeding Is a Big Problem Where Police Stopped Google Car for Slow Driving
A Google car made headlines last week when police pulled it over for driving too slowly on El Camino Real in Mountain View, California.
November 16, 2015
How Giving Bike Share Prime Real Estate Attracts More Riders
We've written before about how bike-share "station density" -- how closely together stations are placed -- is a key variable in how successful systems are in attracting riders.
November 16, 2015
The Future of Parking Arrives in DC
(SBLA readers may recall that L.A. already has a similar variable-priced parking system in place downtown, and just expanded it to Westwood.)
November 11, 2015
Inspiration for Turning Decrepit Public Staircases Into Beautiful Places
In cities with steep hills, public staircases can be an important piece of the walking network. Like any type of infrastructure, however, sometimes cities let their staircases fall apart.
November 10, 2015
A Plea for City Leaders to Support Smart Projects, Not Crony Subsidies
Darin Givens at ATL Urbanist is retiring his blog after five years writing about city planning in Atlanta. Thinking about the future of Atlanta in his final post, he touched on something important and universal: Who gets public resources, and what types of projects should city leaders support?
November 9, 2015