Uber and Lyft Are Overwhelming Urban Streets, and Cities Need to Act Fast
Contrary to the story Uber, Lyft, and their peers like to tell, ride-hailing services are not reducing traffic in American cities. Nor will they, even if they meet their goals for converting solo passenger trips to shared rides, according to new research from transportation analyst Bruce Schaller.
July 27, 2018
What Happens When a Company That Sells Car Trips Gets Into the Bike Trip Business?
Lyft has acquired the nation's largest bike-share company, setting up a situation where its bike trip sales will cannibalize its car trip sales.
July 9, 2018
Let’s Get Serious About Capping Car Speeds in Crowded Cities
Sound outlandish? The barriers are not as intimidating as they might seem.
November 3, 2017
Bike-Share as a Speculative Venture
New York--and California--are about to be invaded by a swarm of bike-share companies - often described as "dockless" bike-share because they use "smart locks," not fixed stations, to secure the bicycles. Dockless systems have been operating in American cities for some time now. The distinguishing feature of the new arrivals is that they're financed like Silicon Valley start-ups.
April 26, 2017
Welcome to the New and Improved Streetsblog
For the first time in nearly nine years, we're debuting a sitewide redesign of Streetsblog.
December 14, 2016
What Changed Yesterday, and What Didn’t
America just elected Donald Trump, who got a foothold in national politics by fanning a conspiracy about Barack Obama’s country of origin, who ran a campaign premised on a naked appeal to racist anger and resentment, who shredded every norm of conduct on his way to the presidency. He’s going to occupy the White House for at least the next four years, and for at least two years the Democratic opposition won’t control either house of Congress.
November 9, 2016
New York MTA Teams Up With NACTO. Which Transit Agency Will Join Next?
Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority joined the National Association of City Transportation Officials, the federation of local DOTs whose policy guidance and street design manuals are popularizing a more multi-modal approach to urban transportation policy.
August 31, 2016
Rescuing New Ideas From the Purgatory of Old Bureaucracy
Your city may have a complete streets policy. Your mayor may say all the right things about making streets work for walking, biking, and transit. But if the inner workings of government -- city budgets, agency protocols -- aren't set up to enable big street design breakthroughs, all you'll get are scattershot improvements.
March 4, 2016
Northeast Ohio to State DOT: Road Expansions Getting Out of Hand
If you could point to one aspect of American transportation policy that's more disastrous than all the others, expanding highways and roads to the point of absurdity is probably it.
January 12, 2016
If Congress Cared About Climate, Its Transport Bill Would Look Much Different
With a few exceptions, the five-year transportation bill heading to President Obama's desk continues what has been the core function of federal transportation policy for more than 60 years -- sending a ton of money to the states to spend on highways.
December 4, 2015