Interviews
Streetsblog Basics
The Search for GOP Partners on Transit: Streetsblog Q&A With Glen Bottoms
The opposition of some Republicans to any transportation policy that doesn't follow the highway-oriented status quo seems to be reaching a fever pitch this election season. Just look to New Jersey, where Republican Governor Chris Christie just killed the ARC rail tunnel. Or to Wisconsin, where gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has made opposition to rail central to his campaign. Or to Colorado, where Tea Party-backed Dan Maes launched a bizarre attack on the city’s modest bike-sharing program.
October 28, 2010
Talking Planning, Diversity, and Cycling With the Women Behind Velo City
Naomi Doerner, Samelys Lopez, and Karyn Williams are planners, New Yorkers, and cyclists who set out about a year ago to change their profession. Responding to the lack of diversity in the planning and design fields -- and within the bicycling community -- the three of them formed the non-profit Velo City last September. Their goal is to introduce young people from diverse communities to the fields of urban planning and design, using cycling as a gateway.
June 29, 2010
Q&A With Sam Hoyt: Why New York State Needs a Smart Growth Law
With Albany's legislative session drawing to a close, the state legislature is considering several initiatives to promote sustainable transportation and livable communities in New York state. One of those initiatives is the State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act -- or the smart growth bill, for short. If enacted, the smart growth bill would shift state spending -- on roads and sewers, for example -- toward areas that have already been developed. Rather than subsidize more sprawl, New York would invest in its existing communities.
June 9, 2010
Talking Transit With City Council Transportation Chair Jimmy Vacca
The last two years have been full of dismal news for transit riders in New York City. Revenue streams for transit have nosedived during the recession, with Albany plundering dedicated MTA taxes for good measure. The payroll tax state legislators passed last year hasn't lived up to expectations, making their failure to enact congestion pricing or bridge tolls even more burdensome for New Yorkers. Sweeping service cuts are going to take effect in less than two months, and discount MetroCards for more than half a million students are on the chopping block.
May 5, 2010
Q&A With City Council Transportation Chair Jimmy Vacca
This January, Bronx City Council Member Jimmy Vacca took over the transportation committee from outgoing chair John Liu.
May 4, 2010
Streetsblog Q&A With TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen
Last December, John Samuelsen was elected president of TWU Local 100, the union that represents 38,000 subway and bus workers in the New York City region. He assumed the leadership from former president Roger Toussaint at a troubled time for the transit system. With transit tax revenues in free fall and state lawmakers raiding MTA coffers to plug holes in the general budget, transit riders and transit jobs were under threat.
April 28, 2010
Streetfilms: Tom Vanderbilt Talks Driver Behavior and Psychology
Whether you’re a transportation geek or just curious about why people do the things they do behind the wheel, Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic is one of the most fascinating books you can open up. Tom, who also writes the excellent blog How We Drive, was kind enough to drop by the Streetfilms office for a conversation about … Continued
April 27, 2010
Streets for Walking, Part 2: Dan Burden on Building Support for Change
Last week Streetsblog spoke to walkability expert Dan Burden about how new design guidelines for urban streets can replace the suburban, car-oriented standards that have become the norm throughout America (read the interview here).
April 13, 2010
Why Cops Should Live in the Hood: Talking Traffic With Peter Moskos
To get an idea of what police think about pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and maintaining peace on the streets, who better to ask than a cop?
April 13, 2010
Making Streets for Walking: Dan Burden on Reforming Design Standards
One of the foundational documents in our country's history of car-centric street design is what's known as the Green Book. These engineering guidelines, which have been published in various editions by the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) since the 1930s, are only "green" if you're looking at the cover.
April 8, 2010