New Evidence That Bus Rapid Transit Done Right Spurs Development
More American cities are considering bus rapid transit, or BRT, as a cost-effective method to expand and improve transit. One of the knocks against BRT, as opposed to rail, is that it supposedly doesn't affect development patterns. But a new study [PDF] by Arthur C. Nelson of the University of Arizona and released by Transportation for America finds that BRT lines can indeed shape real estate and attract jobs -- if the projects are done right.
January 12, 2016
Portland Bike-Share Ready to Roll Thanks to $10 Million From Nike
"Huge" is how Jonathan Maus at Bike Portland described the news yesterday that Nike will sponsor Portland's upcoming bike-share system to the tune of $10 million.
January 8, 2016
New Philly Mayor: Politicos Can No Longer Park on the City Hall Sidewalk
The Jim Kenney administration is off to a promising start in Philadelphia. One of the mayor's first acts in office was to end the thoroughly obnoxious practice of letting government honchos park on the sidewalk "apron" around City Hall -- a public space.
January 7, 2016
A Letter-Grade System for Walkable Retail Buildings
What makes a building walkable? Or rather, what kind of buildings make a city walkable?
January 7, 2016
What Happened When a Newspaper Became an Advocate for Bicyclists
In too many cities, newspaper coverage of bicycling has stoked some of the darker aspects of human nature. Opinion pieces about bike lanes tend to cater to the reactionary opposition, goading the trolls of the comments section, where casual death threats are standard fare.
January 6, 2016
Philly Reduced Its Public Parking Supply and More Spaces Opened Up
If you remove a bunch of parking from the center of a city, you'll get carmageddon, financial ruin, and the complete unraveling of society as we know it -- right? That's what you tend to hear at public meetings when a proposal that would reduce parking comes up, but as this real-life example from Philadelphia shows, there's really nothing to fear.
January 6, 2016
Will the New “Free Range Kids Law” Protect Parents Who Let Kids Walk?
Last spring, Alexander and Danielle Meitiv became public faces of the "Free Range Kids" movement when their children were picked up by police in Silver Spring, Maryland, while walking home from a local park.
January 5, 2016
Visualizing LA’s 18.6 Million Parking Spaces as One Enormous Blob
Here's a great visualization of how much land parking spaces consume in our cities, via Shane Phillips at Network blog Better Institutions.
January 5, 2016
Ridership on the Upswing After Houston’s Bus Network Redesign
In August, Houston debuted its new bus network, reconfigured to increase frequent service, expand weekend hours, and improve access to jobs.
January 4, 2016
Sacramento Freeways and the “Small Town Mindset”
"It’s time to drop the small-town mindset and go for a big fix."
January 4, 2016