Seattle

The auto industry probably loves Colorado’s enthusiastic embrace of automated vehicles. But if decision-makers bet on robo-cars as a transportation panacea, to the exclusion of proven urban transportation solutions, they risk repeating past mistakes that hollowed out urban centers and deepened our dependence on cars. We can make our city streets safer and more efficient today … Continued

Denver should look up to Seattle, a city where decision-makers are reshaping streets in a way that prioritizes transit, walking, and biking before driving, and invests heavily in sustainable transportation. The result is a city that has grown at a similar pace to ours, but has done so without adding traffic.

Denver officials should study the transit renaissance in Seattle, where officials have put to new funding for transit to excellent use, providing tangible service improvements that benefit tens of thousands of people each day.

On Tuesday, the Boulder City Council officially caved to opponents of a safer street design and voted to renege on the Folsom Street protected bike lane and road diet. We learned that the city’s elected officials only support safe, bikeable streets when it’s comfortable for them, and it doesn’t take much to make them uncomfortable. Speeding — and therefore … Continued

Seattle is, in many ways, Denver’s most comparable peer city. Like the Mile High City, Seattle was built to move cars, but as it grows, the city is looking to retrofit its streets to move people via transit, biking, and walking. There’s a stark difference between the two cities’ approach, though. Seattle is backing up its talk with swift action made … Continued

According to a statement from the mayor’s office, Denver’s brass is sort of considering looking into possibly adopting Vision Zero, a package of policies based on the idea that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable, and that we have a moral obligation to act. Amber Miller, Mayor Michael Hancock’s press secretary, prepared this statement in response … Continued

When it comes to improving traffic safety, the Denver Regional Council of Governments is following the lead of the Colorado Department of Transportation and setting the bar low. DRCOG, the regional planning organization responsible for doling out federal transportation funding, is working on Metro Vision 2040, a draft document meant to guide regional planning for the next 25 … Continued

Traffic deaths are not an inevitable fixture of modern life, but preventable tragedies that can be systematically eliminated by smart public policy. That’s the thinking behind Vision Zero, an increasingly influential approach to street safety in cities around the world. Now is the ideal time for Denver’s leaders to join in. Vision Zero has its origins in Sweden, where … Continued