Streetsblog

It's a beautiful thing to witness just how much neighborhood streets can change when you remove car traffic. As open streets events, modeled after Bogotá's Ciclovía, have spread across the U.S. in the past several years, they've brought not just opportunities for physical activity, but a joyful new way to use streets as public spaces.

The horrific mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando has prompted some soul-searching about America's ability to take significant steps to curb gun violence. Congress did nothing to control guns after dozens of young kids were massacred at Sandy Hook. Will the loss of 49 innocent lives finally lead officials to take action?

Ten years ago today, Aaron Naparstek hit “publish” on the first official Streetsblog post.

London cyclists who encounter stressful, dangerous conditions can crowdsource a map of weaknesses in the city's bike network by simply tapping button on their handlebars. Brandon G. Donnelly at Architect This City has more:

Philly residents can't wait any longer for safe bikeways. Yesterday, at a rally in the central city, dozens of people gathered to demand 30 miles of protected bike lanes, and soon.

Despite the occasional feature story about America's "infrastructure crisis" and the campaign platforms for increased investment, the "era of big infrastructure is over," argues University of Minnesota engineering professor David Levinson at the Transportist.

Queens Community Board 4 still hasn't voted for the redesign of 111th Street by Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a highway-like divided road that endangers neighborhood families trying to get to and from the park. Tomorrow, Mujeres en Movimiento, a group of Corona mothers who've mobilized for a redesign that shortens crossing distances and adds a two-way protected bike lane, make their case to CB 4 again.

For a long time now, New Jersey politicians -- first and foremost Governor Chris Christie -- have been playing a high stakes game of chicken with transportation funds, doing practically anything to avoid raising the gas tax. Only one other state in the nation has a lower fuel tax than New Jersey. Thanks to inflation, drivers pay less and less for the roads, but transit riders are paying as much as they ever have following a fare hike last year.

This chart tells an eye-opening story about access to transit in the United States. Using the new data tool AllTransit, TransitCenter dug into who has access to transit in American cities, making a crucial distinction between residents near any transit whatsoever and residents with access to convenient, frequently running service.