Cities and Countries

Ben Fried got it exactly right about the errors that riddled Tuesday's David Brooks column. Brooks was so far off the mark, though, that it's worth another look at the ways he misled readers.

A recent BBC story describes the severity of theft and vandalism faced by Vélib, Paris's wildly popular bike-share network, as a mortal threat to the system. So is Vélib destined to burn brightly only to flare out after a short time? Hardly. Vélib is here to stay, according to officials and transportation experts familiar with the details of its operations.

From the new San Francisco branch of Streetfilms, Janel Sterbentz takes a look at one of the city's main bicycle routes -- Valencia Street -- and asks how it would function if signals were timed to give cyclists the "Green Wave" instead of cars. Cyclists would get a smoother ride and feel less compelled to roll through red lights. Pedestrians would benefit from slower vehicle speeds and more predictable cyclist behavior. As for transit vehicles, Janel reports, average travel times for trams and buses have improved on Amsterdam streets with a cyclist green wave. Even motorists, it turns out, should be rooting this on:

In Lisbon, Portugal, pedestrian advocates have replaced zebra stripes in some crosswalks with names of pedestrians killed by cars. This action seems to have at least some government support, and it did gain media attention, but what of its effectiveness as a safety tool in and of itself? 

As many as four million people are expected to descend on the National Mall today for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation's 44th President. Contending with that mass of humanity has left officials with no choice but to implement temporary policies to get people in and out of the city as efficiently as possible. All of which has been great fodder for DC's thriving livable streets blog scene. Some are hoping today will prove to be what Obama might call a teachable moment, showing residents what downtown Washington feels like with fewer cars and more freedom for pedestrians, cyclists, and buses.

Looks like New York legislators aren't the only ones willing to pass up big money for transportation improvements if it means putting a fair price on private auto use.

I'm pleased to announce the launch of Streetsblog San Francisco. We opened the doors to the site yesterday and, from now on, you'll be able to find it at this RSS feed and this address:

This week's StreetsWiki entry highlights an intriguing storyline that our colleagues at Streetsblog San Francisco will be covering in the months ahead. The Better Streets Plan aims to establish a citywide template for street improvements: