Streetsblog

"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.

WMATA, the DC region's transit agency, is in crisis.

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.