Angie Schmitt

Car-share and bike-share services are making it easier to go without owning a car in American cities, but access to "shared-use" systems remains limited in communities of color compared to majority-white neighborhoods, according to a new analysis from the Shared Use Mobility Center [PDF].

The Twin Cities' Orange Line bus rapid transit project ought to be a slam dunk. According to Sean Hayford O'Leary at streets.mn, it will provide frequent service and travel times similar to the region's successful light rail lines, which carrying tens of thousands of passengers daily. At just $150 million to construct, the Orange Line will be a bargain.

The second round of competition in the search for the Sorriest Bus Stop in America gets underway today. (The poll is still open until midnight in the Buffalo vs. Rochester match if you haven't voted yet.)

Even though the Democratic Party's strongholds are in cities, we probably won't hear much about urban transportation and development policy at the Democratic National Convention this week. City issues seldom get much play when political parties are focused on scooping up swing votes in the suburbs.

With today's match, the field of 16 in the running for the title of Sorriest Bus Stop in America has been revealed. Shame on the DOTs and transit agencies that make transit riders trek over dangerous streets to these terrible waiting environments.

When Portland launched its bike-share system last week, it became the biggest American city to go live with a "smart bike" model. The system allows users to drop off bikes anywhere within the service area, as opposed to the more prevalent "smart dock" model, where users pick up and return bikes only at fixed stations.

What makes a terrible bus stop? The absence of sidewalks, a place to sit, and shelter -- that's all part of the recipe. What else can DOTs and transit agencies throw into the mix?

When a police officer in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, shot and killed Philando Castile earlier this month, the encounter began with a traffic stop. The stop fit a pattern: Castile had been pulled over many times before -- 46 times in 13 years -- but few of those citations were for dangerous driving. More prevalent were stops for minor issues like vehicle defects or misplaced license plates -- the type of justifications that police are more likely to use when stopping black and Latino drivers throughout the country.

Earlier this week tech entrepreneur Elon Musk released his updated "master plan" for Tesla, including some thoughts on how autonomous mini-buses will supplant today's transit and "take people all the way to their destination." Like every Musk pronouncement, this one got a lot of buzz -- but it also drew some healthy skepticism.

To see how little respect bus riders get from public officials, just take a look at the sorry condition of America's bus stops. To make riding the bus a comfortable and dignified experience, we need to do better.