Transit
Streetsblog California
How to Undermine Transit: Surround it with Sprawl
New Jersey is the most population-dense state in the country, and many residents get to work via one of its several transit systems. But too many of New Jersey’s transit stations are surrounded by single-family housing, severely limiting the number of people -- especially low-income people -- with convenient, walkable access to transit. Some entire transit lines are out of reach for people of modest means.
July 10, 2015
When Transit Goes Down at the Polls, Here’s Some Advice on How to Regroup
Last week, voters in the Vancouver region rejected a half-cent sales tax to pay for a package of transit infrastructure and service expansions necessary to handle growing demand. Even in the city of Vancouver, the measure fell shy of a majority. Polling revealed that most "No" voters didn’t trust the regional transit agency, TransLink, to make good use of the additional revenue.
July 6, 2015
Killing a Transit Project Isn’t Going to Fix Your City’s Parking Crunch
Yesterday Streetsblog USA ran a post from Michael Andersen about how Newark fixed the glut of parked cars on Mount Prospect Avenue, the first street in New Jersey to get a protected bike lane: Instead of letting people park in the bikeway, the city started charging for parking. With a price on parking, people stopped storing their cars on the street all day long, and there was finally some turnover. Problem solved.
July 2, 2015
Washington State’s Faustian Bargain to Fund Transit
Washington Governor Jay Inslee and state legislators have agreed to enable funding for a major Seattle transit expansion, but the deal comes with drawbacks.
June 30, 2015
Minneapolis May Drop Parking Minimums Near Transit
Whether you own a car or not, if you live in a city, there's a good chance you pay for parking. Building parking spots is expensive, but most cities require developers to build a certain amount of parking per residence, driving up the cost of housing.
June 12, 2015
Mayor, Eight Supervisors Promise to Ride Muni Every Day Until June 22
The SF Transit Riders Union's challenge to ride Muni for 22 days kicked off yesterday with late sign-ons from Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisors London Breed and Mark Farrell, who had initially declined to commit. Supervisors Katy Tang and Malia Cohen still declined, and Supervisor Norman Yee has not confirmed a pledge since he tweeted a selfie on Muni after the challenge was announced in April.
June 3, 2015
Today in Bad Ideas: “Uberizing” the Public Transit System
A recent guest editorial in the Denver Post argued that "it's time to Uber our bus system" with privately operated demand-responsive service downtown.
June 1, 2015
Overcoming the Barriers to a Seamless Bay Area Transit Experience
Ratna Amin is SPUR’s Transportation Policy Director. This piece originally appeared in SPUR's The Urbanist.
May 22, 2015
Applying the Parklet Strategy to Make Transit Stops Better, Quicker
San Francisco's parklet revolution has broadened the possibilities for how curb space can be used. Now, city planners in SF and the East Bay are taking the idea in a new direction: using temporary sidewalk extensions to make transit stops more efficient and attractive.
May 20, 2015
How a More Inclusive Bike Week Can Help Move Us Toward “Bike Life”
"I can honestly say my faith in humanity has been restored today," Joey said Wednesday as we popped his back tire back on his bike and I packed up my patch kit. "If I ever see you in the street again, I promise I'll pay you back somehow."
May 15, 2015