What Cities Are Learning About Making Bike-Share More Equitable
So far, the customer base of American bike-share systems has skewed toward affluent white men. But cities have been working to make the systems more useful and accessible to a broader spectrum of people, and in a new report, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has compiled some of the lessons learned.
September 17, 2015
Ferguson Commission Report Calls for Better Transit
The police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, touched off a protest movement that gripped the country and elevated the profile of racism and police violence as a national issue. It also raised questions about a host of factors that have shaped Ferguson and communities like it: the suburbanization of poverty, inequality, and residential segregation.
September 16, 2015
US House Dems: We Won’t Support a Transpo Bill That Cuts Bike/Ped Funding
House Democrats won’t stand for any cuts to federal funding for walking and biking infrastructure. That was the gist of a letter signed by every Democratic member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.
September 16, 2015
How America’s Staggering Traffic Death Rate Became Matter-of-Fact
How did more than 30,000 annual motor vehicle deaths become something that most Americans accept as normal? A new paper by Boston University professor Itai Vardi tries to answer that question.
September 15, 2015
Does Your Hospital Make Accommodations for Smoking But Not Bicycling?
Recognizing their responsibility to address the chronic health problems plaguing the nation, a lot of hospitals are making internal changes to avoid contributing to unhealthy choices. The Cleveland Clinic, for example, recently banished McDonald's from its food court. But even that hospital, like many, many others, has been slow to consider how its physical layout abets sedentary lifestyles.
September 14, 2015
Tactical Urbanism Win: Cyclist Protects Boston Bike Lane With Flowers
Even the most delicate barrier between bikes and auto traffic can change the behavior of drivers and make cycling a lot more appealing. Case in point: An ingenious bit of tactical urbanism in Boston this week resulted in a bike lane protected by $6 pots of hardware store mums.
September 14, 2015
How to Make Big Box Stores Less Terrible for Walking: 8 Expert Tips
It's no coincidence that the most dangerous streets in many communities are the ones in front of big box stores.
September 8, 2015
3 Reasons Politicians Like Building New Roads More Than Fixing Old Ones
American transportation policy places a premium on delivering big, shiny new things.
September 2, 2015
Here They Are — The Sad Benches Where No One Wants to Sit
Last week, Gracen Johnson over at Strong Towns introduced the phrase "places I don't want to sit" to describe the lousy, leftover public spaces where someone has plopped down a bench or two as an afterthought. The seating, in these cases, helps crystallize how unsalvageable our public realm becomes when everything else is planned around moving and storing cars. Who would actually want to sit there?
September 1, 2015
Detroit Riders Share Their Transit Horror Stories
Detroit's transit system is in crisis.
August 28, 2015