Speeding Is a Big Problem Where Police Stopped Google Car for Slow Driving
A Google car made headlines last week when police pulled it over for driving too slowly on El Camino Real in Mountain View, California.
November 16, 2015
How Giving Bike Share Prime Real Estate Attracts More Riders
We've written before about how bike-share "station density" -- how closely together stations are placed -- is a key variable in how successful systems are in attracting riders.
November 13, 2015
More Evidence That Helmet Laws Don’t Work
If you want to increase cycling safety in your city, drop the helmet law and focus on getting more people-- particularly women -- on bikes, with street designs that offer separation from vehicle traffic.
November 12, 2015
Study: Sprawling Areas Require 3 Times as Much Pavement Per Person
One of the big downsides to sprawl is the public cost of maintaining infrastructure that is extended over wide areas. A new study of New Jersey by Smart Growth America [PDF] attempts to quantify this relationship by looking at the amount of space devoted to roads in communities of varying densities.
November 12, 2015
Inspiration for Turning Decrepit Public Staircases Into Beautiful Places
In cities with steep hills, public staircases can be an important piece of the walking network. Like any type of infrastructure, however, sometimes cities let their staircases fall apart.
November 10, 2015
A Plea for City Leaders to Support Smart Projects, Not Crony Subsidies
Darin Givens at ATL Urbanist is retiring his blog after five years writing about city planning in Atlanta. Thinking about the future of Atlanta in his final post, he touched on something important and universal: Who gets public resources, and what types of projects should city leaders support?
November 9, 2015
Every Traffic Fatality in the U.S. — Mapped
What is the most dangerous street in your region? Which one most needs improvements to protect cyclists? Where do drunk drivers do the most damage? Thanks to a new tool from New York City data scientist Max Galka, you can get a pretty good sense with a few clicks.
November 6, 2015
How to Turn a Dead Mall Into Walkable Place
Built on a 136-acre site in the heart of a walkable, inner-ring suburb in 1962, Severance was the first mall in the Cleveland area. And over the years, it has mirrored every trend in retail, morphing from an indoor mall to a big-box anchored "shopping center."
November 6, 2015
Just How Bad Is the Final House Transportation Bill?
Nobody was expecting the GOP-controlled House of Representatives to put together a transportation bill that did much for streets and transit in American cities.
November 5, 2015
Funds for San Diego “Park” Go Mostly to Free Parking for County Employees
Nobody's going to give San Diego County an award for park planning -- we hope! -- on its "Waterfront Park project," which is more accurately described as the "subsidized garage project."
November 5, 2015