Rescuing New Ideas From the Purgatory of Old Bureaucracy
Your city may have a complete streets policy. Your mayor may say all the right things about making streets work for walking, biking, and transit. But if the inner workings of government -- city budgets, agency protocols -- aren't set up to enable big street design breakthroughs, all you'll get are scattershot improvements.
March 4, 2016
It’s Happening: Construction of Maryland’s Purple Line Set to Start This Year
Yesterday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that a contractor has been selected to build the 14-mile Purple Line light rail in DC's Maryland suburbs. It's a milestone and a major relief following Hogan's long history of brinkmanship with the project.
March 3, 2016
A Car-Free Downtown and Other Ideas From Portland’s Mayoral Debate
It's always interesting to see what mayoral candidates say about streets and transportation in a public debate. Who's done their homework on transportation policy? Who understands in their gut why better streets for walking, biking, and transit are good for the city? Which candidates are willing to take a stand on these issues while making their case to voters?
March 2, 2016
Can You Believe a Few People Are Still Suing to Rip Out This Bike Lane?
It was just about five years ago that attorneys with the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, working pro bono on behalf of some people with ties to Senator Chuck Schumer, filed suit against the city for installing the Prospect Park West bike lane. In August 2011, Kings County Supreme Court Judge Bert Bunyan dismissed the suit, but not before bike lane opponents battered DOT and its bike program in the press for several months through various surrogates.
February 25, 2016
BQX Streetcar Doesn’t Make Any More Sense Now Than It Did Yesterday
Today Mayor de Blasio rolled out the full court press for his Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar proposal, known as BQX. A story in the Times compared the street-running BQX to Jersey's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which runs mostly on exclusive rail rights-of-way. The City Hall press shop sent out waves of endorsements from various elected officials, advocates, business executives, developers, and civic honchos. The morning culminated with a press conference in Red Hook where the mayor made his case for the project.
February 16, 2016