Traffic
Streetsblog Basics
The Importance of Driving to the U.S. Economy Started Waning in the 70s
Earlier this year, following a slight uptick in U.S. traffic volumes, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a press release, "More people driving means our economy is picking up speed." He's not the only person to equate traffic with economic growth. Even former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg once said, "We like traffic, it means economic activity," before his administration began to tackle traffic as a drag on the economy and embraced ideas like congestion pricing, bus lanes, and protected bikeways.
December 18, 2014
Cheaper Gas and Uber Have Manhattan Gridlock Poised to Get Worse
Traffic gridlock in Manhattan has been on the wane for some time. Newly released 2013 traffic counts from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council show 747,000 motor vehicles entering the Manhattan Central Business District on a typical weekday. While that still constitutes a crushing load, it’s 5,000 fewer cars each day than in 2012 and a drop of 80,000 daily vehicles from the apparent peak year of 2004. As a result, average CBD traffic speeds are on an upswing, from 8 mph in 2006 to 9-9.5 mph in 2012. (Sorry, no figures available for 2004 or 2013.)
November 24, 2014
Great Cities Don’t Have Much Traffic, But They Do Have Congestion
Here's a great visualization of what cities get out of the billions of dollars spent on highways and road expansion: more traffic.
October 31, 2014
It’s Happening: Washington State Revises Traffic Forecasts to Reflect Reality
The amount that the average American drives each year has been declining for nearly a decade, yet most transportation agencies are still making decisions based on the notion that a new era of ceaseless traffic growth is right around the corner.
October 21, 2014
Not Just a Phase: Young Americans Won’t Start Motoring Like Their Parents
A raft of recent research indicates that young adults just aren't as into driving as their parents were. Young people today are walking, biking, and riding transit more while driving less than previous generations did at the same age. But the vast majority of state DOTs have been loathe to respond by changing their highway-centric ways.
October 14, 2014
Fair Tolls: Fixing NYC’s Gridlock and Transit Shortfall in One Fell Swoop
When Governor Nelson Rockefeller merged New York's commuter rail lines, the NYC Transit Authority, and Robert Moses’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to form the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968, he had several motives. The new agency consolidated political power, made more efficient use of regional infrastructure, and devoted surplus bridge and tunnel toll revenues to rescue a faltering transit system.
October 7, 2014
FHWA Gleefully Declares That Driving Is Up, Calls for More Highway Spending
Well, so much for the predictions that changing preferences and new technologies will lead to a car-free utopia. The Federal Highway Administration announced last week that after nine years of steady decline, vehicle-miles-traveled in the U.S. was 1.4 percent higher this June than last June. Apparently, red-blooded Americans everywhere are finally getting back to their Hummer habit after a few years of diminished driving and rising transit ridership and bike commuting.
September 2, 2014
California Has Officially Ditched Car-Centric “Level of Service”
Ding, dong... LOS is dead. At least as far as the state of California is concerned.
August 7, 2014
How Road Planners Fail Neighborhoods
Why do neighborhood groups -- especially in low-income areas -- have such a hard time influencing the design of major road projects? An interesting case study from the University of Colorado-Denver sheds some light.
June 4, 2014
While the Economy Grows, Americans Continue to Drive Less
The last time the average American drove this little, Bill Clinton was president and Seinfeld was the most-watched show in the country. Not since 1994 has per capita driving been as low as it is now, according to new data from the Federal Highway Administration compiled by economist Doug Short.
May 28, 2014