Today's headlines somehow formed themselves into a narrative all on their own. They tell a story about the ineffective ways we deal with growing traffic problems. The solution is here, too, if you read carefully enough: stop driving so much!
Report issued on 50 worst traffic bottlenecks in US—no surprises here:
One-third of the worst 30 are in So Cal—and have been congested for many years (LA Times)
Two of the top 50 are in the Bay Area—and Caltrans' response shows an understanding that widening roads won't fix the problem (ABC7)
Here's a little video illustration of what happens when people get stuck in traffic (Vimeo)
Another reason to come up with alternatives to driving: declining gas tax revenues are delaying road projects (Lompoc Record)
The commute hour in the Bay Area is starting earlier and earlier (SF Chronicle)
The California Alliance for Jobs documents bad roads—and, inadvertently, the huge vehicles adding to the problem (Business Wire)
But transportation planning in most cities is stuck in the past (Governing)
And even when transit investments happen, they're too few and way too slow: in San Jose, local businesses are losing money because BRT construction is taking so long (San Jose Mercury News)
While bike commuting has many many benefits, including economic ones (Triple Pundit)
Meanwhile, people say lots of clueless things at public hearings—herein personified by cats (Austin on Your Feet)
Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry has been thinking about transportation, and how to improve conditions for bicyclists, ever since commuting to school by bike long before bike lanes were a thing. She was Managing Editor at the East Bay Express, editor of Access Magazine for the University of California Transportation Center, and earned her Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.
What happened in West Portal was entirely predictable and preventable. The city must now close Ulloa to through traffic and make sure it can never happen again
Inspiration from the Bike Summit; OakDOT proposes standards for temporary safety upgrades; San Diego transforms a fast road in Balboa Park; Stockton transit funding is under threat; More