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StreetNEWS (August 25)

Submitted by Charlie Denison on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 9:37am.


Bicyclists on the Minuteman during Bike Friday
(Photo courtesy Boston Globe)

Highlights
  • For first-timer, Boston by bike is an achievement (Boston Globe)
    By Nancy Shohet West -- It was long. It was tiring. The traffic was frightening. But, oh, what a sense of pride and self-righteousness when we were done. For one day, at least, I beat the cost of fuel and the guilt of contributing to rush hour: I finished the ride from Lexington to Boston last month on Bike Friday, a monthly event sponsored by the City of Boston as part of its Boston Bikes program to provide guided commutes-by-bike from the suburbs to Government Center.

  • Transportation head puts brakes on I-93 toll idea (Boston Herald)
    By Hillary Chabot -- State transportation officials declared tolls on Interstate 93 dead for the first time yesterday - once again leaving Pike drivers to foot the bill for any toll hikes needed to pay off the Big Dig. Pike board member Mary Connaughton said the announcement effectively ends a quest to make toll payments equitable throughout the state. “I just don’t know how you can consider toll equity without having I-93 tolls on the table,” Connaughton said. “I guess the political heat just got too hot.”

  • Editorial: Massachusetts Needs a Progressive Transportation Plan (Open Media Boston)
    With gas prices heading up as the value of the dollar heads down, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority flailing about in vain for neo-classical economic solutions to its growing austerity-induced budget problems, and that same authority's "stem to stern" review of the Ted Williams Tunnel determining that it is not possible to stop it from leaking permanently, it seems like a good moment to call for a progressive transportation plan for the Commonwealth.

  • Traffic Stoppers (Christian Science Monitor)
    An increasing number of cities are temporarily closing streets to cars and opening them to pedestrians and cyclists. It fosters a greater sense of community.
    By Tim Holt -- They danced the tango in Portland, Ore., they're doing the samba in New York, and by the end of this month, they'll be dancing in the streets of San Francisco. It's urban planning with a Latin twist, a simple idea imported from South America for transforming the cityscape. Temporary street closures, or ciclovias, are sweeping across the US, as cities take a new look at alternative uses for their streets.

  • The Traffic Guru (Wilson Quarterly)
    By Tom Vanderbilt -- If you were asked to name a famous traffic engineer, in some pub quiz gone horribly wrong, chances are slight you could hazard a good guess. It is true that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, was trained as a traffic engineer, but his notoriety does not derive from tinkering with the streetlights in Tehran. Bill Gates got his start developing software for a device to count car traffic, but he was a computer boffin more interested in the technology than the traffic. Your memory might flicker in recognition at the names of William Phelps Eno, the putative “father” of traffic control, or Henry Barnes, the onetime New York City traffic czar credited with inventing the “Barnes Dance,” wherein an entire intersection, for a moment, is given over to a ­four-­way pedestrian ­crossing.

  • AARP Poll: Fighting Gas Prices, Nearly a Third of Americans Age 50+ Hang Up Their Keys to Walk But Find Streets Inhospitable, Public Transportation Inaccessible (MarketWatch)
    NEW YORK -- A new poll by AARP finds that while many Americans ages 50+ are trying to move away from car transportation as a result of high gas prices, their attempt to go "green" is challenged by inadequate sidewalks and bike lanes, as well as insufficient public transportation options. "More Americans age 50+ are trying to leave their cars behind but face obstacles as soon as they walk out the door, climb on their bikes or head for the bus," said Elinor Ginzler, AARP Senior Vice President for Livable Communities.
"Streets"
Bicycling
Transit
Cars/Parking
Parks
Development projects
Land Use/Zoning
Transportation financing/Government
Out-of-state
National trends
  • Can't afford gas? Try a 'commuter bike' (Marketplace)
        Features LivableStreets' member Susan Brady!
  • Making Do Without the Minivan (Newsweek)
  • AARP Poll: Fighting Gas Prices, Nearly a Third of Americans Age 50+ Hang Up Their Keys to Walk But Find Streets Inhospitable, Public Transportation Inaccessible (MarketWatch)
  • VIDEO: Bicycle rage? (CNN)
  • Roads, Rails, and Transit: Obama-McCain Contrasts (CitiStates Group)
  • BACK TO SCHOOL: More kids walk as fuel costs rise (Forbes)
  • Traffic Stoppers (Christian Science Monitor)
  • Car Sharing Gains Traction (Wall Street Journal)
  • Sure, gas is expensive, but that's not really the reason (WashCycle)
  • Transit Progress and the Kindness of Strangers (MassTransit)
International news
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