Cities and Countries
Streetsblog Basics
Vancouver Set to Claim Another Bridge Lane for Active Transportation
In 2009, Vancouver converted a southbound car lane on the west side of the Burrard Bridge to a protected bikeway using concrete dividers, freeing up the sidewalk for pedestrians. On the east side, the city converted the existing sidewalk into a bike path.
June 2, 2015
The Case for Baking Bike Infrastructure Into Vision Zero Projects
London is surging ahead with big plans for protected bikeways that span the city. By comparison, New York's bike plans, while moving forward incrementally, feel piecemeal. Has safe cycling infrastructure become an afterthought in the city's Vision Zero program?
May 21, 2015
Boston Says So Long to the Casey Overpass, a 1950s Highway Relic
This month, Boston is demolishing a monument to 1950s-era car infrastructure: The Casey Overpass, a short elevated road built in 1955 to whisk drivers over the Forest Hills MBTA station in Jamaica Plain without encountering any pesky things like intersections or pedestrians.
May 20, 2015
Can LA Make “Great Streets” If the Mayor Won’t Stand Up for Good Design?
Los Angeles, with its expanding transit network, is supposed to be in the process of shedding its cocoon of car-centricity and emerging, in the words of a recent Fast Company headline, as America's "next great walkable city." The city's streets, however, didn't change a whole lot under former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. When Eric Garcetti was elected mayor in 2013, advocates thought he could provide the leadership to finally prioritize walking, biking, and transit on LA's streets.
May 19, 2015
Dallas Highway Teardown PAC Snags Two Council Seats. Next Up: Runoff
A coalition of Dallas residents trying to build a more walkable, people-friendly city gained some momentum in Tuesday's election, picking up at least two City Council seats. At stake is the potential replacement of a downtown highway segment with mixed-use development and parks. The balance of power in the council now comes down to a June runoff.
May 14, 2015
The Philadelphia Bike Story
Of U.S. cities with more than a million residents, the one where people bike the most is Philadelphia. In 2012, the U.S. Census estimated Philadelphia’s bicycle commute rate at 2.3 percent [PDF], higher than Chicago (1.6 percent) and New York (1.0 percent).
May 12, 2015
Baltimore: The Consequences of Planning That Isolates Neighborhoods
Cross-posted from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership
May 11, 2015
Salt Lake City to Install Nation’s First Protected Intersection for Bicycling
Salt Lake City is on track to implement America's first protected intersection for bicycling this summer.
May 6, 2015
Freeways Without Futures: I-345 in Dallas
In this Streetfilm, Patrick Kennedy, founder of A New Dallas, talks about the movement to replace Interstate 345 in downtown Dallas with connected streets and walkable development. Shot at the "Freeways Without Futures" session at the Congress for New Urbanism's recent conference in Dallas, the piece provides views of I-345 from heights most people never get to see.
May 5, 2015
Bike-Share Comes to Philly With the Launch of Indego
On Thursday, Philadelphia's long wait for a bike-share system came to an end with the launch of the 60-station, 600-bike Indego system, which is set to expand in the near future. At the kickoff, volunteers and officials -- including Mayor Michael Nutter -- rode about half of those bikes to their docking stations.
April 24, 2015