Streetsblog
Streetsblog Basics
Get Your Tickets to the 10-Year Bash for Streetsblog and Streetfilms
Ten years ago, Mark Gorton, Aaron Naparstek, and Clarence Eckerson started a new media venture -- Streetsblog and Streetfilms. The idea was to show that cities work best when streets are designed for people, not cars, and to press public officials to bring street design and transportation policy into the 21st century. No one had seen anything quite like it before, and looking at how much has changed since 2006, the impact is undeniable.
August 5, 2016
How the New Google Maps May Change the Way You See the City
What can a Google Maps visual teach us about the cities we live in?
August 5, 2016
Chris Christie’s Transportation Record Is a Bigger Disaster Than Bridgegate
What a fiasco. Six years after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed the ARC transit tunnel under the Hudson so he could avoid raising the gas tax, the jig is up. The state has run out of transportation funding anyway.
August 4, 2016
Where the People Walk: A Global Glance at Walking Rates
The way we move around is shaped by many factors -- the physical environment, culture, technology, and economic status, to name a few. A new report from the engineering firm Arup, "Cities Alive: Towards a Walking World," looks at how motorized cities can become walkable again.
August 3, 2016
Trading a Park-and-Ride for a Public Plaza and Bike Parking
More cities should copy this idea for their park-and-ride transit stations: At DC Metro's King Street station in Old Town Alexandria, plans are underway to turn parking spots into a pedestrian plaza. This goes against the grain of typical transit agency practice. Despite the fact that park-and-rides are an inefficient use of scarce land, a recent survey by researchers Lisa Jacobson and Rachel Weinberger found that most agencies are looking to expand them.
August 2, 2016
Great Cities Don’t Take Late-Night Transit Service Away From Workers
What a sad state of affairs for transit in the nation's capital.
August 1, 2016
Study: Streetcar Tracks and Bicycling Don’t Mix
A new study out of Toronto confirms what cyclists in many U.S. cities have found out the hard way: Streetcar tracks can be a serious safety hazard.
July 29, 2016
67 Congress Members Tell Feds: Measure the Movement of People, Not Cars
The federal government hands states about $40 billion a year for transportation, money they can basically spend however they want. The result in many places is a lot of expensive, traffic-inducing highways that get clogged with cars soon after they're finished. Can measuring the effect of all this spending lead to better decisions?
July 28, 2016
Can a Major Minneapolis Transit Project Survive Regional Dysfunction?
The Twin Cities' Orange Line bus rapid transit project ought to be a slam dunk. According to Sean Hayford O'Leary at streets.mn, it will provide frequent service and travel times similar to the region's successful light rail lines, which carrying tens of thousands of passengers daily. At just $150 million to construct, the Orange Line will be a bargain.
July 27, 2016
Tim Kaine Took a Stand Against Cul-de-Sacs
Even though the Democratic Party's strongholds are in cities, we probably won't hear much about urban transportation and development policy at the Democratic National Convention this week. City issues seldom get much play when political parties are focused on scooping up swing votes in the suburbs.
July 26, 2016