Streetsblog

On Wednesday DOT and Citi Bike will hold the first of two planning workshops for bike-share in Astoria. Now’s your chance to help decide where stations should go, and speak with DOT and local electeds about the need for more bike-friendly streets in northwest Queens.

Hard to believe, but one of the biggest transit agencies in the U.S. -- WMATA -- is moving to eliminate eight hours of late-night Metro service per week. The whole system will simply not be available for those eight hours, and people in D.C. are livid.

What impact will self-driving cars have on cities?

Where bicyclists were once a trickle in Philadelphia, they are now a steady stream.

"Shared spaces" are streets where driving is allowed but walking and biking take priority. They are designed without curbs, signage, and other typical markers that separate cars from people on foot. The design cues are subtler. Everyone mixes together in the same space, and drivers travel slowly enough that they can make eye contact with pedestrians.

In cities considering a light rail project, it's common for transit opponents to suddenly cast themselves as big believers in bus rapid transit. They don't really want to build BRT, they just want to derail the transit expansion. The light rail advocates then have to make their case not only on the merits of the project, but also in relation to the strawman BRT project.

This summer the Parks Department presented a plan to route cyclists away from the waterfront greenway and onto a hilly, poorly-lit path between 72nd Street and 83rd Street. The greenway can get crowded along the water on summer days, but most of the time the current path doesn't pose a problem. Nevertheless, as presented, the Parks Department's proposal would impose a permanent detour for cyclists without providing an adequate replacement.

City leaders from around the world are meeting right now in Quito, Ecuador, for the summit known as Habitat III -- convened by the United Nations to map out a strategy for sustainable urbanization as more people flock to cities.

Rents continue to rise in cities across the U.S., and Pittsburgh is no exception. Noting the escalating housing costs in walkable neighborhoods, Alex Shewczyk at Bike Pittsburgh looks at how transportation and housing policy can coordinate to make places more affordable.