Transit
Streetsblog Basics
U.S. Transit Ridership Continued Upward Climb in 2014, Thanks to NYC
Transit ridership continued to climb in American cities last year, even as gas prices sank. The American Public Transit Association is out with new data on the number of transit trips in the United States -- 10.8 billion in 2014, the highest in 58 years.
March 9, 2015
Koch Brothers Loom Over Maryland’s Purple Line Fight
Look whose envoy has been dispatched to undermine Maryland's Purple Line. Once again, Randal O'Toole of the Koch brothers-funded Cato Institute has been deployed to attack a light rail project in distress.
February 26, 2015
Maryland Gov Larry Hogan Plays Chicken With Purple Line Funding
Newly elected Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says he's putting off bids on the Purple Line light rail project in an attempt to cut costs, but the delay could also jeopardize the whole project by putting federal funding at risk.
February 24, 2015
Eastern Queens Electeds Want Bus Lanes. Will DOT Deliver?
Council Member Rory Lancman and Assembly Member Michael Simanowitz have taken up the cause of opposing bus lanes for Select Bus Service in their eastern Queens districts. While the pair has gotten a lot of attention, they are outnumbered by almost a dozen city, state, and federal elected officials along the route urging the city to be bolder with its bus service upgrades.
February 19, 2015
St. Louis Stunner Runs Away With the Vote for America’s Sorriest Bus Stop
In the end, it was never even close. This bus stop on Lindbergh Boulevard in suburban St. Louis won wire-to-wire in the voting for the Sorriest Bus Stop in America.
February 13, 2015
RPA: Growing Outer Boroughs Need New Generation of Transit Investment
With the boroughs outside Manhattan adding people and jobs faster than the city core, New York needs to reorient its transit priorities, argues the Regional Plan Association in a new report. The authors warn that increasing travel in the other boroughs will strain the local bus system and lead more people to drive, causing more traffic congestion and imposing the burden of car ownership on more low- and middle-income New Yorkers.
February 11, 2015
Bus Rapid Transit, Not Ferry Subsidies, Would Help Struggling New Yorkers
In today's State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio returned to his signature campaign issues of affordability and equity. Focusing mainly on housing, the mayor outlined a plan for growth centered around transit-accessible neighborhoods, and he recommitted to building several new Bus Rapid Transit routes.
February 3, 2015
Man Walks 21 Miles to Commute Each Day Because of Detroit’s Awful Transit
A piece in the Detroit Free Press about 56-year-old factory worker James Robertson and his 21-mile round-trip walking commute to the Detroit suburbs is going viral this week. It is both an amazing story of individual perseverance and a scathing indictment of a failing transportation system.
February 3, 2015
Help Streetsblog Find the Sorriest Bus Stop in America
It's contest time again, and competition is going to be stiff for this one. After handing out a Streetsie award for the best street transformation in America at the end of 2014, we're going to do some good old public shaming this time: Help us find the most neglected, dangerous, and all around sorriest bus stop in the United States.
January 27, 2015
Cuomo’s LaGuardia Train Would Be Slower Than Existing Transit
The centerpiece of Governor Cuomo's second-term transportation agenda for New York City isn't closing the $15 billion gap in the MTA capital program or taking serious steps to relieve the city from suffocating traffic. Instead, Cuomo's big idea is a new rail link to LaGuardia Airport.
January 21, 2015