Hightlights

• Taking Back The Streets (NY Times [1]): NEW YORK’S streets are as gritty as the city’s reputation, traffic-clogged canyons of concrete where New Yorkers, on foot and in vehicles, jostle and growl, exulting all the while. Stared down a Hummer lately? Yet there is a growing desire to tame New York’s 5,800 miles of streets, sidewalks and highways, which constitute the city’s principal social space.
  
  
• Boston parking fines my jump: Mayor's budge proposal envisions $13m from higher penalties (Boston Globe [2], Metro [3])
  LivableStreets Responds: The proposed parking fine increases in Boston is a great opportunity to fund some very important transportation-related items in the city. Mayor Menino's new Boston Bikes program is now in full swing, but has yet to receive a dedicated source of funding. In addition, a portion of the new fines collected could be used towards other modes of transportation, such as a pedestrian signalization plan and traffic calming, sidewalk improvements for handicapped accessibility, and transit improvements such as signal prioritization and dedicated lanes for buses. Finally, a portion of the funds could be used towards a transportation demand management program to try to further shift the mode share towards walking, bicycling, and transit. It will be hard to argue with the fine increase when this money is used to encourage more people to choose alternatives to driving. (Submitted to the Boston Globe, Charlie Denison, Board of Directors)
  
  
• River runs on hold as paving continues (Metro [4]): As sunshine splashed the region Thursday and temperatures soared to 71 degrees, runners, bikers and rollerbladers flooded the path. But the stretch between the BU Bridge and the River Street Bridge on the Boston side remains unfinished, turning runners back long after work began in the fall. “It’s getting annoying,” said Brighton resident Rob Ostrye, who was hoping the span was complete on Thursday. “I hate having to do this loop.” [Note: this is a Department of Conservation and Recreation project].

"Streets"

• Metro moments with the Mayor (Metro [5])
• Neighborhood leaders reject city's argument for new traffic signals on Charles St. (Beacon Hill Times [6])
• Dead zones frustrate drivers (Boston Globe [7])
• Congress St. Bridge set to open April 28 (Metro [8])
• Drivers forced to play chicken at Cleveland Circle (Boston Globe [9])
• Having seen better days, 1957 neon landmark is retired (Boston Globe [10])
• Just the facts: City hand the public data, and influence (Boston Globe [11])

Walking

• Coolidge Corner crossing too short, pedestrians say (Brookline TAB [12])

• NU capstone projects connect Boston's bike ways (Northeastern News [13])
• Paving the tracks: Bike shop pledges funds for Rail Trail (Newburyport Current [14])
• Shelton Hall wheels in a needed improvement for campus bicyclists (Daily Free Press [15])
• Bicycle Advisory Committee needs a new member (Brookline TAB [16])
• Shifting Gears: Lance Armstrong (Boston Globe [17])

• T Q+A with General Manager Dan Grabauskas (Metro [18])
• T keeps billboards: Somerville and Melrose calls ads a blight to communities (BostonNOW [19])
• Feds step in on rail crash: Freight company alleges evidence tampering (BostonNOW [20])
• White powder found on MBTA powder found on MBTA bus identified as common chalk (Boston Globe [21])
• No fault? No way, CSX told: US lawmakers urge commuter-rail deal (Boston Globe [22])
• 'T' says it hasn't the funds to expand the Alewife garage (Boston Globe [23])
• T to educate riders on harassment: Ad campaign urges victims to report cases (Boston Globe [24])
• Peace aboard the Quiet Car (Boston Globe [25])

• Cambridge starts up hybrid cab fleet (Metro [26])
• BostonCoach cuts jobs, closes call center (Boston Globe [27])
• Editorial: Can't eat ethanol (Boston Globe [28])

• Drivers in a fine mess (Boston Globe [29])
• Parking fine hikes get early support: Several councilors behind the idea (Boston Globe [30])
• Commissioner responds to parking fine worries (BostonNOW [31])
• Proposal to boost Haymarket garage costs met with strong opposition (Metro [32])

• Progress continues on bike path (Marshfield Mariner [33])
• More places to recreate? New parks may be added in Port Norfolk (Boston Globe [34])

• IKEA and our Mystic River waterfront: Speak now or forever hold your peace (Somerville Journal [35])
• Assembly Square developers outline potential traffic impact (Charlestown Bridge [36])

• More oversight, cuts: Transportation programs could get overhaul (BostonNOW [37])
• Raise the Gas Tax (Seriously) (Boston Globe [38])
• Governor seeks $3.8b to fix bridges: Says bond plan would bring 23,000 jobs (Boston Globe [39])
• MassHighway workers faces bribery allegation (BostonNOW [40])
• Cahill: Bridge plan too costly: But Patrick's $3.8b proposal gains key backing (Boston Globe [41])
• Editorial: Bridges over troubled economy (Boston Globe [42])
• STEVE POFLAK: A road less traveled: Under the hood of transportation reform (Patriot Ledger [43])
• Fast Lane ignorance has toll, study says (Boston Globe [44])
• Letter: Note to governor: The FDR era this is not (Boston Globe [45])

• Editorial: MIT's burgeoning role in the green movement (Boston Globe [46])

• Editorial: Pick on the Big Guys (Congestion Pricing in NY) (NY Times [47])
• Reinventing the Apple: Greening New York (Outside Magazine [48])
• A Better Way to Get Around: Traffic Circles Gaining Ground as Safer, More Efficient Than Intersections (Washington Post [49])
• Study: Downeaster an economic engine (Maine Today [50])
• This Is How We Roll: A new bike-sharing program sparks interest in a greener way to commute (Continental Airlines Magazine [51])
• Stadium opens without parking, world doesn't end (Greater Greater Washington [52])
• Long commutes, gas prices crimping American Dream (Philadelphia Inquirer [53])

• Bike-sharing services roll into the U.S. (MSNBC [54])
• Healing The Divide: Smart Cities Put People Before Cars (Hartford Courant [55])
• Editorial: How Car-Based Growth Imperils New Cities (Hartford Courant [56])
• The Clean Energy Scam (TIME [57])
• Is In-Vehicle Wi-Fi a Boon For Commuters? (Wi-Fi Planet [58])
• More cities offer Wi-Fi on buses (USA Today [59])

• The Shanghai Mega-Subway (WIRED [60])
• The new age of the train: A historic boom on the railways -- but can network take the strain? (The Independent [61])