“Adam Ruins Everything” Explains the Origins of “Jaywalking”
Think the origins of "jaywalking" in 1920s car industry propaganda are too esoteric for a mainstream audience? Watch this clip from truTV's "Adam Ruins Everything" that adapts research from Peter Norton's Fighting Traffic, a history of how motordom conquered American streets in the early 20th century. It's a good sign when productions backed by the entertainment industry start devoting attention to topics like this.
October 14, 2015
Streets Have Changed Before, and They Can Change Again
Some of the fiercest battles over streets come down to resistance to change -- fears that claiming a lane of traffic for transit will cause carmageddon, or that converting parking spaces to bike lanes will starve local businesses of customers.
October 14, 2015
Sizing Up Target’s New Down-Sized Urban Stores
Love ’em or hate ’em, big box stores are shrinking their footprints in an effort to fit into city locations.
October 13, 2015
Seattle’s Plan to Take Biking and Walking to School to the Next Level
Last week, communities around the country celebrated Walk to School Day to encourage kids to get to school the old-fashioned and healthy way.
October 12, 2015
Arkansas Town Breaks Ground By Eliminating Commercial Parking Minimums
In an effort to boost development downtown, leaders in Fayetteville, Arkansas (population ~80,000), last week eliminated minimum parking requirements for commercial properties citywide.
October 9, 2015
A Conservative Case for Truck Tolls
Republican lawmakers in Rhode Island are trying to pay for roads and bridges without new tolls on trucks.
October 9, 2015
Feds Propose Major Rule Changes to Eliminate Barriers to Safer Streets
Applying highway design standards to city streets has been a disaster for urban neighborhoods. The same things that make highways safer for driving at 65 mph -- wide lanes, "clear zones" running alongside the road that have no trees or other "obstacles" -- make surface streets dangerous and dreadful for walking, killing street life.
October 8, 2015
An Urgent Plea for Better Management at Washington Metro
Things are not looking up at the Washington Metro. Despite service expansions, strong regional population and economic growth, and a national increase in rail ridership, fewer and fewer people are riding Metro.
October 8, 2015
Detroit Bus Driver Contract Offers Bonuses When Ridership Rises
A new labor contract between the Detroit Department of Transportation and ATU Local 26 explicitly ties bus driver bonuses to ridership increases.
October 7, 2015
County Gov Bullies Missouri Town Into Abandoning a Safer Main Street
Local residents described Main Street in O'Fallon, Missouri, as "ugly," "outdated," and "old" in a series of meetings earlier this year.
October 7, 2015