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TED Talk: OKC Mayor Mick Cornett on Designing a City for Fitness
I got to know Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett last year, when I interviewed him at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. We talked about his realization that he and his constituents (generally speaking) were obese, and how he stood in front of the elephants at the zoo on New Year's Eve six years ago and announced that the city was going on a diet. He set out to have the residents of Oklahoma City lose a million pounds -- and the city achieved it.
January 6, 2014
Will Bill Bratton Make an Anti-Speeding PSA Like This?
A new anti-speeding PSA from DC police chief Cathy Lanier could be a good model for once and future NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton. Speeding is the leading cause of fatal crashes in New York City, and DC provides a model -- starting with a video like this one.
December 20, 2013
Congestion Charging on the Horizon for China’s Cities
Which Chinese city will be the first to try congestion pricing? Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai — megacities whose populations are on the scale of New York’s? Or second-tier but still mighty cities (think Chicago) like Hangzhou, Nanjing, or Xi’an?
December 18, 2013
A Conservative Utah Republican’s Path to Transit Enlightenment
Greg Hughes is the majority whip of the Utah State Legislature and the chair of its conservative caucus. He got a 100 percent score last year by the conservative Sutherland Institute, a Utah think tank. He also chairs the board of the Utah Transit Authority.
December 13, 2013
How Children Demanding Play Streets Changed Amsterdam
The above video, excerpted from a Dutch television documentary series, shows how children helped catalyze the fight for safe streets in Amsterdam more than a generation ago.
December 13, 2013
Enrique Peñalosa: Democracy Is Bus-Only Lanes and Protected Bikeways
I lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for about half of 2002. While I was there, a political party headquarters near my house was car-bombed, guerrillas attacked the presidential inauguration, and thousands of people were killed in routine violence. It was a stressful place to live.
December 9, 2013
The Times Blows a Chance to Tackle America’s Broken Traffic Justice System
In the United States, it's pretty much legal to drive into and kill a cyclist, as long as you're sober and stay at the scene. Writer Daniel Duane made that point last weekend in a New York Times op-ed titled, "Is it O.K. to Kill Cyclists?"
November 12, 2013
Citi Bike Carries More Riders on Fewer Bikes Than London Bike-Share
Five months after its launch, Citi Bike is already moving more people than its larger, more established sister program in London, according to an analysis by University College of London researcher Oliver O'Brien.
November 7, 2013
More Mayoral Results: Minneapolis, Houston, Boston
This week's mayoral elections yielded good news for transit and safe streets in both Houston and Minneapolis. In Boston, meanwhile, the results are less straightforward.
November 7, 2013