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Americans Vote for Fuel Efficiency. Why Do They Buy Guzzlers?
With new fuel economy standards under consideration in Congress, James Surowiecki ponders why Americans continue to buy gas guzzlers when polls show that the majority would like to see the government mandate big increases in fuel efficiency. What does all of this have to do with professional hockey players wearing helmets? This was in last week's New Yorker:
July 25, 2007
Safety First? True Once, but U.S. Now Lags in Road Deaths
Fatalities per billion kilometers driven from 1970 to 2005 for selected countries
July 23, 2007
Kids Demand Respect in the Streets of Brooklyn
A rendering of a mural proposed for Butler St. and Third Ave., one block from the Brooklyn intersection where a 4-year-old boy was killed by the driver of a Hummer in February.
July 20, 2007
CB8 Shoots Down Upper East Side Crosstown Bike Route Plan
On Monday, July 9 the transportation committee of Community Board 8 on Manhattan's Upper East Side took up the issues of congestion pricing and a new pair of crosstown bike lanes.
July 19, 2007
An NYC First: On-Street Parking Spaces Replaced by Bike Racks
The new bike racks have been installed at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As the Dept. of Transportation announces in today's press release, "The
facility marks the first time car parking spaces have been removed to
accommodate bicycle parking in New York City."
July 12, 2007
Brooklyn Merchants Fight for Parking Over Affordable Housing
A group of profoundly confused Brooklyn merchants have convinced themselves that a nearby empty lot is better used for motor vehicle storage than affordable housing for 152 families. Oh, and by the way, the affordable housing plan includes an even larger parking lot beneath the building. The Daily News reports:
July 10, 2007
Mayor Speaks at Times Square Pricing Rally
Supporters of congestion pricing rallied yesterday in Times Square, urging state lawmakers to act by July 16 on Mayor Bloomberg's initiative or risk losing $500 million in federal funds. "The time is now," said the mayor, according to the New York Post. "We cannot walk away from this opportunity."
July 6, 2007
The Suburbanist Paradox
The Atlantic Monthly's Matthew Yglesias argues that high-density living is a key strategy to fight climate change. Yglesias takes issue with fellow Atlantic Online blogger Ross Douthat and author Joel Kotkin, who defend suburban sprawl -- what James Kunstler has famously called "the most destructive development pattern the world has ever seen, and perhaps the greatest misallocation of resources the world has ever known." Reporting on a recent talk by Kotkin, Douthat writes:
July 6, 2007
A Rising Bicycle Tide in Mexico City
Back in April, Marcelo Ebrad, the mayor of Mexico City, announced he wanted those who worked in his administration to ride bicycles to work one day a month (at right, Ebrard, center, kicks off the program). Many were shocked at the idea, or simply laughed it off. But this excellent article in the San Diego Union details how the mayor's decree to his employees has meshed with several other initiatives to raise the profile of bicycling as a legitimate form of transportation in the traffic-clogged city:
July 5, 2007