USA

Bike Group to Feds: Helmet Laws are Bad

By Jessica Roberts | Jan 17, 2020

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals has come out against mandatory helmet laws in a letter this week to the NTSB. We publish it in full.

Talking Headways Podcast: An Operating System for the Public Right of Way

By Jeff Wood | Jan 16, 2020

This week, we talk to Hugh Martin of Lacuna about open source ways to operate city streets in the future.

Car-Dependency Makes City Life Too Expensive

By Kea Wilson | Jan 16, 2020

If we truly want to reckon with our national poverty crisis, we have to make going car-lite or car-free a possibility for more people.

NYC

Interview: Would-Be Mayor Scott Stringer Loves Busways, Hates Placards, and Wants an Affordable City

By Jessie Singer/Transportation Alternatives | Jan 17, 2020

The city's green-eyeshades guy (and would-be mayor) spoke to TransAlt's Jesse Singer about what shakes (including the BQE).

Op-Ed: The LaGuardia AirTrain Dog-and-Pony Show

By Eve Kessler | Jan 16, 2020

An FAA open house on the LGA AirTrain and alternatives showed the governing class's disdain for transit.

CYCLE OF RAGE: Crash Response Reveals that Cops Are Just So Badly Trained

By Gersh Kuntzman | Jan 15, 2020

More evidence that police officers are poorly trained and disinclined to see drivers as a culprit in the criminal or civil offense of injuring or killing someone with a motor vehicle.

LA

A Pitch-Perfect Response to Peloton

By Joe Linton | Dec 23, 2019

Curbed's editor nails it! Bike-share can really open up your world!

Friends, Family March for Justice for Woon, Pen Personal Messages Asking for Change

By Sahra Sulaiman | Dec 16, 2019

"Whenever I ride, I think if I'll make it back to see my mom wake up or to have dinner. Put yourself in our shoes."

USC’s Public Safety Officers Tackle, Traumatize Woman for Hugging Tree on Sorority’s Lawn

By Sahra Sulaiman | Dec 7, 2019

"How is USC going to make it right?"

CHICAGO

Serious CTA crime is on the rise. How can we fight it beyond using cops and cameras?

By John Greenfield | Jan 14, 2020

More policing and camera surveillance doesn't make everyone feel safer, but bringing back CTA conductors would help deter crime.

Stop Coddling Drivers and Build a Protected Bike Network

By Courtney Cobbs | Jan 8, 2020

Getting around Chicago on bike should be as safe, convenient, and intuitive as navigating the city by car.

Questioning the Hyperloop Hype

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 20, 2019

The marketing geniuses at Hyperloop TT seem to have seized on some important cultural zeitgeist.

SF

Amtrak Non Grata at Transit Center

By Roger Rudick | Jan 17, 2020

The national rail operator can't even get a connecting bus into the "Grant Central Station of the West"?

New Segment of Cross-Alameda Trail

By Roger Rudick | Jan 15, 2020

Another half-mile of off-street cycling heaven quietly makes an appearance on the island city

Transit Lanes on the Bay Bridge, a Simple Choice

By Roger Rudick | Jan 14, 2020

Up until 1958 the lower deck of the Bay Bridge had transit-only space. And it's a simple choice to bring it back.

DENVER

Trump Administration Keeps Hands Off Self-Driving Cars

By Aaron Short | Jan 9, 2020

At the annual Las Vegas tech geek fest on Wednesday, USDOT Secretary Elaine Chao refused to put a leash on driverless car technology.

Feds: Paint Bus Lanes Red!

By Aaron Short | Dec 13, 2019

The Federal Highway Association approved new guidance this week that will dramatically expedite the process for approving the use of red paint to indicate a dedicated bus lane.

Hidden Safety Problems Keep Denver Kids From Walking and Biking

By Andy Bosselman | Nov 26, 2019

In this guest post, Wes Marshall, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, reveals Denver-based research showing that crash data hides places where kids want to walk and bike. Related papers show how to identify places where kids already are, and how to create safer streets where they want to go — […]

CALIFORNIA

California Lagging on Safety Improvements

By Melanie Curry | Jan 16, 2020

We're not designing our streets for anyone but drivers of vehicles, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised at the bad safety outcomes?

Regional Buses Serving Yosemite Are Going Electric

By Minerva Perez | Jan 9, 2020

This is a first step in the transition to a zero-emission fleet by 2040.

Wiener Reintroduces Housing-Transit Bill; Some Advocates Shout Him Down

By Melanie Curry | Jan 8, 2020

It would be safe to say that most of the people in the crowd in Oakland support more housing, but they are deeply split on tactics for achieving it.

SOUTHEAST

How I Respond to “Atlanta Is a Car Town, Not a Cycling and Transit Town”

By ATL Urbanist | Jan 2, 2018

A commenter on a recent post of mine mentioned a couple of pretty common criticisms about expectations for growth in cycling and transit in Atlanta.

What Makes a Good City? You Need the Right Codes

By David Walters | Dec 1, 2017

How can we stop design and planning mistakes from damaging our city? Part 2 in a series of illustrated essays on urban design.

Suburban Exclusion of MARTA and Access to the Braves Stadium

By ATL Urbanist | Nov 13, 2017

There is a way to get to the Braves stadium by using Cobb County’s transit service. But that service is nowhere near as extensive as MARTA and doesn’t meet the needs of the people who live in suburban poverty.

OHIO

What’s Really Behind GCRTA’s Falling Ridership Levels?

By Tim Kovach | Dec 20, 2017

The past year has been eventful, to say least, for public transit in Northeast Ohio.

Driving Is the Problem, Not the Solution

By Tim Kovach | Dec 15, 2017

We’re officially in the middle of the holiday season, which can only mean one thing – that’s right, the 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data for 2016 came out last week.

COTA to Interview Four Candidates for CEO Post

By Brent Warren | Dec 13, 2017

Four candidates will be interviewed to be the next CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority.

STL

Why You Should Go to the Chouteau Greenway Events this Week

By William Smith | Jan 3, 2018

If you haven’t yet heard of Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) or specifically the Chouteau Greenway, you’re missing out on one of the most exciting developments planned in St. Louis.

Take Parking Away From Treasurer’s Office

By Steve Patterson | Jan 3, 2018

Former St. Louis treasurer Larry Williams reminds me of a small town version of New York's Robert Moses (1888-1981), using the state legislature to give him money and power while also remaining free of oversight.

How Much Do People in Missouri Bicycle?

By Brent Hugh | Dec 6, 2017

How much do people in Missouri bicycle? Is the amount of bicycling in Missouri growing? How to Missouri communities compare with other U.S. cities and with major cities of the world?

TEXAS

The One Little Rule That Decides Where Austin’s Towers Build Parking

By Dan Keshet | Jan 2, 2018

Not every tower in downtown Austin looks exactly the same, but there is one defining characteristic that describes almost all of them: parking. Most towers rest on top of what they call in the industry a parking plinth, the tower base where folks store their cars.

Remembering Pedestrian Pete

By Leah Binkovitz | Dec 13, 2017

Irascible, ornery, unconventional, Pedestrian Pete pushed Houston to be better and embrace walkable urbanism.

Harvey to Be a Turning Point for Equitable Transit-Oriented Development in Houston

By Raj Mankad | Dec 7, 2017

Rendering of New Hope Housing project on Harrisburg. Courtesy: GSMA.The urban ambitions of our government leaders — so easy to dismiss in the past as nice words with no budget — may get a serious infusion of funds because of Harvey. The Texas delegation that Governor Abbott took to Washington D.C. lobbied for $61 billion beyond what the state already expects to receive from […]