Send in Your Nominations for the Best Urban Street Transformation of 2015
Did your city turn a dangerous, high-speed street into a safe place to walk and bike this year? Got a new transitway or protected bike lane in your hometown that's changing how people get around? Streetsblog wants to know about it.
December 9, 2015
Florida DOT Unveils Its Big Plan to Fix Deadly Streets
Plenty of states are saddled with a legacy of roads designed to be deadly for pedestrians, but Florida stands out as a special case. Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami have a monopoly on the four "top" spots on Transportation for America's list of the most deadly cities for pedestrians [PDF].
December 8, 2015
Slapping Flashy Crosswalks on Stroads Misses the Point of Complete Street
This Tweet from the Florida Department of Transportation last week was intended to exemplify the agency's efforts to make walking and biking safer on the state's notoriously deadly roads.
December 7, 2015
The Best and Worst of the New 5-Year Transportation Bill
Smart people are wading through the 1,300-page transportation bill that came out of conference committee earlier this week, and we're starting to get a clearer sense of how it will change federal transportation policy for the next five years.
December 3, 2015
A Dutch Bicycle Engineer’s Perspective on the Sharrow
Sharrows: the consolation prize of bike infrastructure.
December 3, 2015
More “Nervous” Drivers Are Exactly What’s Needed
The deaths of two pedestrians and bicyclist in quick succession in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood have local street safety advocates demanding reforms and the mayor promising swift action.
December 2, 2015
The Highs and Lows of Hillary’s Bland Infrastructure Plan
We're getting some insight into what White House transportation policy would look like in a Hillary Clinton administration, following the Democratic frontrunner's release of a 5-year, $275 billion infrastructure plan yesterday. It's not exactly a visionary plan, but despite its blandness it's still likely to be DOA if Republicans retain control of Congress as expected.
December 2, 2015
Advice for State DOTs Looking for More Money: Spend Smarter
The Oregon Department of Transportation is in a tough spot after it tried to justify highway expansion projects by saying they would cut greenhouse gas emissions. ODOT's bogus claims helped sink a $350 million transportation funding package in the state legislature, and even some of the state's Republican lawmakers are calling for agency director Matt Garrett's head. What's a beleaguered state DOT to do?
December 1, 2015
Bad Street Design Kills People
Traffic fatalities are on the rise up again, with an increase of 8.1 percent in the first half of 2015, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. As is their practice, NHTSA officials are attributing the problem to driver (or passenger) error -- drunk driving, speeding, failure to wear seatbelts -- but did promise "new initiatives to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists."
December 1, 2015
It’s Time to Stop Pretending That Roads Pay for Themselves
If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by "user fees," a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls.
November 30, 2015