USA

Talking Headways Podcast: A Compass for Sustainability

By Jeff Wood | Jun 24, 2021

This week we’re joined by Mark Perepelitza, director of sustainability at SERA Architects. Perepelitza chats with us about the meaning of sustainability, the company’s sustainability action plan, and its colorful Project Compass. For those of you who prefer to read rather than to listen, check out an edited transcript below the audio player. For the […]

In God We Trust; Everyone Else Bring Data

By Vince DiMiceli | Jun 24, 2021

The simplest way to convince the public to move forward with policies that best serve it is to give the raw numbers that back up great ideas, a top urban planer told transit advocates during an online seminar aimed at better urban planning.

Road Death Rate Worse for Blacks, Indigenous

By Kea Wilson | Jun 23, 2021

The U.S. is still failing to make meaningful progress to end the decades-long racial disparity in fatal car crash rates across modes, a new study finds — and things got worse during the pandemic.

NYC

OPINION: What I Learned Delivering for DoorDash

By Richard Robbins | Jun 24, 2021

E-bike workers are in an impossible bind — they have to break the law to earn a living. How we could fix it.

OPINION: Extend the Queens Boulevard Bike Lanes to Jamaica!

By Eve Kessler | Jun 23, 2021

Cyclists need safety as they cross streets with highway-like conditions on the way to a shopping and transit hub.

A Round and a Roundy: A Matter of Perspective

By Streetsblog | Jun 22, 2021

Whose park! Um, actually, whose park? That is the question.

LA

Autistic Man Shot Within 83 Seconds of First Contact by LASD: Why Is this Still Happening?

By Sahra Sulaiman | May 8, 2021

Eighty-three seconds. That’s how much time passed between the moment deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) first stood at the door of the Cudahy home of Isaias Cervantes, a 25-year-old autistic man who is hard of hearing and suffering from depression and anxiety, and the firing of the shot that may have […]

Environmental Protection Agency Nixes Metro and Caltrans’ Current Plan for Expanding Lower 710 Freeway

By Joe Linton | May 4, 2021

Dealing a blow to Metro's effort to fast-track expansion of the lower 710 Freeway, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated that Metro follow air quality laws.

Families of Those Killed by LASD Describe Ongoing Harassment by Deputies as Part of a “Triple Assault”

By Sahra Sulaiman | Apr 13, 2021

"I don't have another life to give. I don't have any more breaths to take. I don't have any more hashtags. I don't have any more energy to be marching with my fist up in the air [only] to come back to the same thing," declared Khadijah Shabazz. "Right now, it needs to be all broken down, torn down, and started all over again."

CHICAGO

Lessons From Latin America on Building Bike Culture

By Courtney Cobbs | Jun 18, 2021

Latin American cities can provide insights on how to build bike culture. Mobility experts from Mexico City and Bogotá shared how their cities are creating a bike culture.

Amtrak Is Restoring Long-Distance Service and Dining

By Steven Vance | Jun 16, 2021

Amtrak wants to make riding across the United States cheaper, more comfortable, and easier this year, as more and more people get vaccinated and it becomes safer to travel.

Open Streets Promote Good Mental Health

By Sharon Hoyer | Jun 16, 2021

Urban design that makes space for residents to safely and easily interact with the outdoors and each other plays a major role in both physical and psychological well-being.

SF

Op-ed: S.F. Mayor’s Veto Fails to Move Transit Forward

By Roger Rudick | Jun 22, 2021

A veto of a proposed free-fare pilot isn't enough. The mayor must offer concrete solutions for bringing back riders.

SPUR Talk: Coastal Cities in the Time of Climate Change

By Roger Rudick | Jun 21, 2021

A look at what cities around the country are doing to stay above water--often literally

New Bridge Proposed to Eliminate Rail Choke Point

By Roger Rudick | Jun 16, 2021

A 90-year-old draw bridge is the source of major delays on trains in the Bay Area--the push is on to replace it

DENVER

Commentary: How a new emphasis on safer streets could drive big change in Colorado

By Streetsblog Denver | May 4, 2021

Colorado's wowntowns, main streets, and the urban arterials that have become so many of our main streets should be vibrant community centers, but people need to feel safe accessing them, no matter how they get there.

Commentary: Best Foot Forward

By Streetsblog Denver | Apr 26, 2021

Dear Denver: We met on Walk Score. Hello, again. I’m the woman who was looking to move from a mountain town of 450 people to you – you with public transportation and a large public library system and the symphony and museums and movie theaters and neighborhoods to walk.

Commentary: 100 Years of School Safety Patrol Coming to Denver

By Streetsblog Denver | Apr 21, 2021

This guest commentary is by Cassie Tanner, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for AAA Colorado. You can connect with Cassie on Twitter @CassStenstrom and on LinkedIn. At AAA Colorado, we are proud partners in Vision Zero initiatives in Denver and across Colorado, and we’re even prouder to promote safe, non-automotive mobility whenever we can. After […]

CALIFORNIA

Senate, Assembly Pass Budget, Punting on Specifics

By Melanie Curry | Jun 15, 2021

There's lots of money for clean transportation, but details to be determined leave programs in the dark

Feds Restore Trump-Blocked Bullet Train Funds

By Roger Rudick | Jun 11, 2021

Almost $1 billion in funds from D.C. released to the project

Q&A: How to Keep Rail Project Costs Under Control

By Roger Rudick | Jun 8, 2021

Our ongoing series looks at how California can build mega projects effectively in the new era

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 […]