Studies & Reports
Streetsblog Basics
Smart Growth America: Sprawl Shaves Years Off Your Life
Want to live a long, healthy, prosperous life? Don’t live in sprawlsville.
April 2, 2014
State DOTs Let Roads Fall Apart While Splurging on Highway Expansion
Even though 33 percent of its roads are in "poor" condition, West Virginia spends about 73 percent of its road budget building new roads and adding lanes. Mississippi spends 97 percent of its road money on expansion. Texas, 82 percent.
March 12, 2014
Why Is It Still So Hard to Find Out How States Are Spending Transpo Money?
You would be lucky to get half as much information about a $5 million transportation project in your state as you can get from a toothpaste tube about how to brush.
February 19, 2014
Study: Civil Rights Protections Lack Teeth When It Comes to Transportation
American transportation policy has a woeful history of civil rights abuses. For a good part of the 1950s and '60s, using highways to level black neighborhoods was a matter of national policy. And the white flight and segregation that those highways engendered have left a legacy that continues to shape much of America in the present day.
February 14, 2014
Poor NYC Neighborhoods “Less Conducive to Walking” Than They Appear
A fact sheet [PDF] released by the city's health department today makes the case that New York City's walkability contributes to the health of residents -- but a deeper look into the research shows that not all New Yorkers are benefitting equally from walkable neighborhoods.
February 12, 2014
What Sets Apart the Places Where People Walk More?
A lot of research has shown a link between living in a walkable community, active transportation habits, and better health outcomes.
February 6, 2014
Five Ways Colleges Are Coaxing Students Out of Their Cars
The University of Wisconsin-Madison provides bike valet at its football games. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill supports free transit for everyone in the region. The University of California, Irvine launched a bike-share system in 2009, long before any major city in California had done so.
February 5, 2014
Study: Bike-Share Has Boosted the Share of Female Riders in Manhattan
Bicycling in Manhattan has long been a male-dominated mode of transportation, but a new study says bike-share is helping improve the gender balance in the borough's bike lanes. Another change since the blue bikes hit the streets last summer: Manhattan bike riders are far more likely to follow the rules of the road.
February 4, 2014
How Do You Grade a Bike-Share System?
Bike-share has exploded in the last decade -- and in North America, just in the last few years. What started as a shaky concept in Amsterdam in the 1960s has matured into a viable transit option worldwide, with 600 systems offering more than 600,000 bikes.
December 6, 2013
Study: All Across America, Car Commuting Is Dropping
U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group are on a mission to explore the downward trend in driving. In a series of reports, they point to evidence that it isn’t just a temporary blip, but a long-term shift in how Americans get around. Today, the two organizations released a new report, “Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America’s Biggest Cities,” which shows that these changes are happening in regions all over the country.
December 4, 2013