Streetsblog

Since Mayor Bill Peduto assumed office in 2014, Pittsburgh has been a city that doesn't shy away from changing its streets. Most recently, two more protected bike lanes are now slated for downtown, and of course Peduto made a splash partnering with Uber to test autonomous vehicles on city streets.

Employees at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, have to accumulate 13 years of service time before they get an on-site parking permit. To get a sense of how much employees become invested in this system, check out this YouTube video of one man's elation the day he gets his parking privileges (and notice how towering parking garages dominate the landscape).

DOT first presented a plan for a safer bike connection over the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge between Bushwick and Ridgewood in 2014. Brooklyn Community Board 1 still hasn't endorsed it. Most recently, the board voted to delay action, ostensibly because the design leaves a dangerous left turn in place -- but fewer traffic injuries happen at that intersection than at all but one other intersection in the project area.

The concept of the "captive" transit rider -- the idea that there is a fixed number of people who ride transit because they have no alternatives -- is deeply flawed. Among other problems, it overlooks how low-income people without cars are sensitive to the quality of transit and will choose not to use poor service. And yet discussions of "captive" vs. "choice" transit riders persist.

U.S. DOT estimates that total freight volume in the country will grow 45 percent by 2040. If that sounds like a reasonable guess that will help plan for the future, think again.

Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside DC, is getting ready to do something that could set a precedent for American suburbs -- build a bus rapid transit network. The 82-mile system should offer a huge boost in job access, especially for people without cars.

What do modern ride-hailing services mean for the future of transit?

American kids don't walk and bike to school much anymore. Even after some modest progress in recent years, only about 20 percent of 5- to 14-year-olds walked or biked to school in 2012, compared to 48 percent in 1969, according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

Last year DOT unveiled a redesign of 111th Street, a dangerous speedway that separates Corona residents from Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The DOT plan -- for fewer car traffic lanes, expanded medians, new crosswalks, and a two-way protected bike lane adjacent to the park -- was developed in response to a grassroots campaign. It has the backing of Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, but Queens Community Board 4 has failed to endorse the project, and Assembly Member Francisco Moya is determined to torpedo safety improvements for the street.