Streetsblog Network

The Los Angeles Times recently ran a big story to the effect that the region’s major investments in transit are not paying off, since ridership has recently declined. But there are a lot of problems with the paper’s analysis, which Streetsblog LA looked at last week. Jarrett Walker at Human Transit has also taken issue with how the LA Times published sweeping conclusions about long-term … Continued

Gravois Avenue is an important commercial street in St. Louis that also happens to be designated a state highway. It’s currently slated for a redesign, providing a huge opportunity to make the street work better for walking and biking. But unfortunately the highway-like mentality of state transportation planners persists. Alex Ihnen at NextSTL reports that Missouri DOT is using highway design … Continued

Building 6,600 homes on farmland outside city boundaries? Some might consider that the very definition of sprawl. But leaders in the Fresno region beg to differ. James Sinclair at Network blog Stop and Move reports that Norm Allinder, the planning director for Madera County, told the Fresno Bee that such a development “doesn’t perpetuate the legacy of sprawl,” because it … Continued

After a 15-year hiatus, Enrique Peñalosa is beginning a new term as mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. Peñalosa’s leadership during his first three-year term has been a global inspiration for cities. His administration reclaimed sidewalks from cars, created dozens of miles of new bikeways, and launched TransMilenio, setting a new standard for high-capacity bus rapid transit. Since he left office, … Continued

Portland is considering a 10-cent gas tax that would go toward various street-related projects. To investigate the economic fairness of the proposal, Michael Andersen at Bike Portland has been looking at who drives and how much. One thing that’s important to keep in mind in these debates, Andersen writes, is that people who earn more tend to drive … Continued

The question of whether to build the Trinity Parkway, a $1.5 billion toll road that would run along the Trinity River from roughly West Dallas to Oak Cliff, has divided leaders in Dallas. Mayor Mike Rawlings and other power players have doggedly supported the project, saying it’s necessary to relieve congestion on nearby highways. But some prominent leaders have come … Continued

In theory, transit is a big melting pot where people from all walks of life rub elbows. That may be close to the truth in some places, but in others the reality is often quite different. People riding city buses to work probably aren’t as affluent as the people riding the commuter rail line into downtown. Social … Continued

In a series of recent articles, the D.C. press have been throwing cold water on the idea that younger people don’t drive as much as their parents. The impetus was a recent study of millennials in the D.C. that found 60 percent still drive to work alone. This is sort of like the “if the earth is warming, how … Continued

In 2014, 170 people were killed while walking on New Jersey streets, accounting for 31 percent of total traffic deaths in the state (about double the national share). In addition, 13 people were killed while biking that year. To address the problem, lawmakers and advocates in New Jersey have been working on a bill to establish a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Advisory Council … Continued