“Opportunity Score” Shows Best Places to Find a Job Without Owning a Car
Which places put economic opportunity within reach for residents who don't own cars?
June 29, 2016
How to Counter the Victim-Blaming Impulse After a Traffic Crash
When a driver strikes someone walking or biking, the tendency to blame the victim runs deep. Ask Raquel Nelson, who lost her young son to a hit-and-run driver, then got convicted for vehicular homicide, even though she was just trying to walk across the street with her children from a bus stop to her home. Or witness the reaction to the death of Amanda Phillips, who was struck by a truck driver while biking in Boston last week.
June 27, 2016
DC Insurers Try Scare Tactics to Avoid Paying Victims of Reckless Driving
If a driver strikes you while you're walking or biking in D.C., there's a good chance you won't be allowed to sue for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering under the law.
June 27, 2016
Boston Globe Columnist Tweets Out History’s Dumbest Anti-Bike Rant
I hesitated to even respond to Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby's odious tweetstorm against cycling in Boston, because the man is obviously just trolling for attention.
June 24, 2016
6 Principles to Make Self-Driving Cars Work for Cities, Not Against Them
Self-driving cars are coming, and maybe sooner than we think. But the question of how they will shape cities is still wide open. Could they lead to less traffic and parking as people stop owning cars and start sharing them? More sprawl as car travel becomes less of a hassle? More freedom to walk and bike on city streets, or less?
June 24, 2016
What If “Commuter Rail” Were for Everyone, Not Just 9-to-5 Commuters?
Rhode Island has been investing in commuter rail -- long distance service connecting Providence to Boston and towns in between. But lackluster ridership at a new park-and-ride rail station at the end of the line (by a Walmart!) is sapping support for much more useful investments, reports Sandy Johnston at Itinerant Urbanist.
June 24, 2016
4 Ways Road Builders Game the Numbers to Justify Highways
The people who make the case for highways often present themselves as unbiased technicians, simply providing evidence to an audience subject to irrational bias.
June 24, 2016
Send Us Your Nominations for the Sorriest Bus Stop in America
Streetsblog's "Sorriest Bus Stop in America" contest is back by popular demand.
June 23, 2016
Columbus Wins $50 Million “Smart City” Grant. What Put It Over the Top?
U.S. DOT announced the winner of its $50 million "Smart City" grant yesterday, and Columbus, Ohio, bested finalists San Francisco, Portland, Austin, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Denver for the prize. Many other cities had applied for this federal funding to demonstrate how new technologies can improve urban streets and transportation.
June 22, 2016
Beyond Fitness: The Social Benefits of Open Streets Events
It's a beautiful thing to witness just how much neighborhood streets can change when you remove car traffic. As open streets events, modeled after Bogotá's Ciclovia, have spread across the U.S. in the past several years, they've brought not just opportunities for physical activity, but a joyful new way to use streets as public spaces.
June 21, 2016