Traffic
Streetsblog Basics
Wild, Wild West Side Has Its Own Vigilante Traffic Cop
You've got to already be a little bit crazy to choose to drive into Midtown for work each day (as the record-breaking ridership numbers on the PATH train attest). Sitting in traffic, dodging the even crazier driver next to you -- perhaps the only thing worse than driving near the Lincoln Tunnel is trying to walk safely along those traffic-clogged streets.
July 30, 2012
Arizona DOT Study: Compact, Mixed-Use Development Leads to Less Traffic
Does walkable development really lead to worse traffic congestion? Opponents of urbanism often say so, citing impending traffic disaster to rally people against, say, a new mixed-use project proposed in their backyards. But new research provides some excellent evidence to counter those claims.
May 18, 2012
West Side Study Offers Lots of Little Improvements, No Transformations
The Department of Transportation has completed a multi-year transportation study of the Upper West Side, and Wednesday night the agency walked local residents through the many proposed changes [PDF]. The suggestions for the area between 55th and 86th Streets, west of Central Park, include a number of valuable intersection-level improvements to pedestrian safety, but left some feeling that the recommendations don't go far enough.
April 27, 2012
Flushing Transpo Project Boosted Safety While Curbing Congestion
It might not be as bold or attention-grabbing as the overhaul of Times Square and Herald Square, but a set of changes made to New York City's third-busiest pedestrian intersection is having its own quiet success. In Downtown Flushing, a 2010 project that expanded sidewalks, daylighted dangerous intersections, and introduced numerous turn restrictions is boosting safety even while traffic flows more smoothly, according to a new evaluation from NYC DOT [PDF].
March 5, 2012
LOS and Travel Projections: The Wrong Tools for Planning Our Streets
Gary Toth is director of transportation initiatives at Project for Public Spaces. This post first appeared on PPS's Placemaking Blog.
February 7, 2012
Komanoff: 2,000 New Cabs Will Add as Much Traffic as 80,000 Private Cars
Transportation analyst and Streetsblog contributor Charles Komanoff is out with a piece in Reuters today that examines the traffic impacts of adding 2,000 new yellow taxis to Manhattan streets, and it's not pretty.
January 20, 2012
TTI: Mass Transit Saved Drivers 45.4 Million Hours Last Year
Last year, the D.C. region ran away with the dubious honor of Most Congested Metro Area. D.C. area drivers wasted 74 hours and 37 gallons of fuel sitting in traffic last year, which would have cost about $100 over the course of the year. But the gasoline cost is just the tip of the iceberg.
September 27, 2011
Guess Who Has a Lot to Lose From an MTA Meltdown: Drivers
Can you spot the flaw in this excerpt from the New York Times' Saturday backgrounder on MTA chief Jay Walder’s pending departure for Hong Kong?
August 1, 2011
Chamber of Commerce: Empty Asphalt = Good Transportation Performance
The Chamber of Commerce released its annual Transportation Performance Index (TPI) last week [PDF], and you can tell it's due for a total overhaul, because according to the Index, recession-battered 2009 was a banner year for transportation performance.
July 25, 2011