Sarah Goodyear

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're talking sidewalks. Specifically, Greater Greater Washington is talking about the lack of sidewalks in many parts of DC where there is a concentration of people who are particularly in need of them: senior citizens.

A couple of weeks ago I left the transit-rich confines of New York City and headed down South to visit family. I made it all the way to Meridian, Mississippi, without getting in a car (I rode the subway to Penn Station and took Amtrak from there), but once I got off the train in Meridian, I did what everyone else in America does: I put my rear end in the driver's seat and started driving. Driving to visit the relatives. Driving to the store to buy allergy medicine for my kid. Driving to buy food for dinner. Driving driving driving. It drove me crazy. And for my seven-year-old, who is not used to doing time in the back seat, it was torture.

Like so many systems around the country, St. Louis's Metro is facing a devastating budget crisis. And yet St. Louis Urban Workshop, one of the newer members of the Streetsblog Network, is adding its voice to a highly counterintuitive chorus of people who are calling not for fare increases to help fund the systems -- but for eliminating the farebox altogether. Some have suggested that free mass transit be seen as a stimulus measure. Even MarketWatch, part of the Wall Street Journal's digital network, has run an editorial in favor of making mass transit free, saying, "This is not as far-fetched as it looks."

Suburban cul-de-sacs are one of the fundamental units of a development pattern that is coming under increasing strain and scrutiny around the country. In Charlotte, NC, Streetsblog Network member The Naked City argues against spending precious transportation dollars on building roads that encourage the traditional sprawling pattern of four-lane highways and residential dead ends:

A few weeks ago, the Obama Administration had a rather embarrassing public difference over the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax. It's certainly one of the most contentious notions out there, but most of the debate is based on hypotheticals. Now, as reported by Streetsblog Network member Worldchanging, the Oregon Department of Transportation has released the results of a 2006 experiment in a pay-at-the-pump mileage-based system, and we have some data to talk about. Adam Stein writes:

Here at Streetsblog, we often discuss the ongoing carnage caused by drivers on the nation's roads and streets -- and the near-total lack of accountability for those who are anything but staggering drunk. And we often discuss, too, the role that language plays in our perceptions of accountability. Today's Streetsblog Network featured post, from Sustainable Savannah, is a particularly thoughtful and reasonable examination of the importance of terminology -- "accidents" vs. "crashes":

Are cities with strong centers faring better in the recession? Today on the Streetsblog Network we're featuring a post from NRDC Switchboard's Kaid Benfield that pulls together several items suggesting that might be the case:

Today we bring you a call for action from Pennsylvania network member Bike PGH, which is asking Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell to release funds for the state's Safe Routes to Schools program:

I just returned from an overnight train trip on Amtrak a couple of days ago, riding the Crescent from Meridian, Mississippi, into Penn Station, after completing the southbound trip a week earlier. It's a route I've traveled before, one of dozens of long-distance hauls I've made on Amtrak over the last 20 or so years. And while it may be wishful thinking, I felt like there was an improved mood on the train this time, among both crew and passengers. I heard several hopeful conversations in the dining car about the future of intercity rail travel in this country.

Communities around the country are bracing for the impact of fare hikes and transit cuts, as jury-rigged funding mechanisms for vital local transportation systems crumble under the strain of the weakening economy. You already know about the MTA's woes in New York City; today, the Times had a report about the 75 percent fare increase that's going to be hitting Long Island bus riders. In Orange County, CA, Streetsblog Network member Orange County Transit Blog reports on a similarly devastating situation. The local transit authority there, OCTA, has voted to decrease service by 25 percent and lay off 400 employees: