July 17, 2009

East Fourth Street, Cleveland
Dining alfresco on historic East Fourth Street in Cleveland
(Photo courtesy New York Times)

Highlights

  • T riders face nearly 20 percent fare hike (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Cambridge Chronicle, MBTA [pdf])
    Proposal follows $160M state bailout
    By Noah Bierman -- Commuters who depend on public transportation could soon pay nearly 20 percent more to ride buses, trains, and trolleys under a wide-ranging fare proposal unveiled yesterday, little more than a week after the state provided an infusion of $160 million to help the state’s transit agency. The proposal includes a broad array of increases that would bring in an estimated $69 million a year and affect everyone who uses public transportation, from the suburban resident who takes commuter rail once a month to the city resident who depends on a monthly bus or subway pass for all local travel.
    More MBTA budget crisis coverage below...
     
  • Aboard the Blue Hill Ave. bus, tales of woe (Dorchester Reporter)
    By Alex Owens and Mike Deehan -- “I pressed the ‘stop,’ don’t cha know, driver!” called a woman from the back of the bus. Everyone along the MBTA’s Route 28 bus route seems to have a story about the almost hour-long ordeal that is a ride between the line’s terminal stations, Mattapan Square and Ruggles -- from overcrowding to unreliable schedules to missed stops to a strong sense of insecurity. The Mass. Executive Office of Transit has set out to rectify the long-standing criticisms of the 28 line with its proposed 28X enhancement project, designed to streamline the crowded, often chaotic route. At four community meetings last month, community members voiced concerns about the construction, noise, safety, parking, and the effect of the undertaking on local businesses. The overall sentiment reflected a lack of trust between the community and the T.
     
  • Rules of the Road: Brookline bicyclists and motorists weigh in (Brookline TAB)
    By Neal Simpson -- There is only so much pavement to go around these days, and with pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists each vying for their piece, there’s bound to be some disagreement. So in the interest of maintaining peace in the streets of Brookline, the TAB decided to talk with those on both sides of the traffic stripe to trying to find some common ground. We know it’s just a start, but we hope this will be a first step toward finally brokering a lasting détente on the roadways. In fact, some observers say they’ve already seen some progress in bike-car relations.
     
  • TA Report: Reckless Driving Casualties Rising as NYPD Enforcement Lags (Streetsblog)
    By Brad Aaron -- Transportation Alternatives today released a troubling report on the state of local traffic enforcement, and called on Mayor Bloomberg to establish a new office tasked with reining in dangerous drivers and reducing fatalities and injuries on city streets. "Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety" [PDF], compiled from official data along with testimony from experts on traffic enforcement and public health, reveals that while deaths caused by reckless drivers are up, citations issued for moving violations are declining.
     
  • Buses May Aid Climate Battle in Poor Cities (New York Times)
    By Elizabeth Rosenthal -- Bogota, Columbia -- Like most thoroughfares in booming cities of the developing world, Bogotá’s Seve nth Avenue resembles a noisy, exhaust-coated parking lot — a gluey tangle of cars and the rickety, smoke-puffing private minibuses that have long provided transportation for the masses.But a few blocks away, sleek red vehicles full of commuters speed down the four center lanes of Avenida de las Américas. The long, segmented, low-emission buses are part of a novel public transportation system called bus rapid transit, or B.R.T. It is more like an above-ground subway than a collection of bus routes, with seven intersecting lines, enclosed stations that are entered through turnstiles with the swipe of a fare card and coaches that feel like trams inside.
     
  • There is no free parking (Montreal Gazette)
    By Stuart Donavan and David Seymour -- Municipal regulations require that urban developments provide on-site parking. These regulations seem innocuous and receive little attention in public-policy discussions, but they do in fact have serious consequences. They stimulate urban sprawl, encourage excessive use of cars, create inequitable social outcomes, reduce housing affordability and suppress economic development. Wiping parking regulations from municipal planning codes across Canada is arguably the most urgent policy reform Canada's municipalities can make. [...] Parking regulations are politically palatable because they improve driver convenience by including the cost of parking in the overall cost of development. This is indeed the root of the problem – parking is not free; the cost is merely hidden.

"Streets"

Walking

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

Parks

Development projects

Out-of-state

  • An Enclave of Entertainment in Historic Cleveland (New York Times)
  • The "Other" I-710 Project: Widening to Improve Air Quality in Long Beach (Streetsblog LA)
  • Urban Traffic Report Sparks Clever Headlines, But Little Transit Talk (Streetsblog DC, Infrastructurist)
  • Chicago Transit Advocates Encourage Rapid Transit Conversion of Metra Line (Transport Politic)
  • Broadway's Car-Free Zones: This Space for Rent (New York Times)
  • New York City finishes 200 miles of bike lanes at Grand Concourse ceremony (NY Daily News)
  • Planners push to tear out elevated I-10 over Claiborne [New Orleans] (NOLA)
  • Washington Train Crash Prompts Safety Warning (New York Times)
  • TA Report: Reckless Driving Casualties Rising as NYPD Enforcement Lags (Streetsblog)
  • Getting More Out of San Francisco's Carved-up Curbs (Streetsblog SF)
  • AAA, long a foe of the two-wheeler, launches roadside assistance for bikes (Daily Finance, BikePortland)

National trends

  • How Can We Improve Safety Across All Modes Of Transportation? (National Journal)
  • Urbanism, Suburbs and Families: They Can All Go Together (Planetizen)
  • Cities Lose Out on Road Funds From Federal Stimulus (New York Times)
  • America Is Way Behind On High-Speed Rail--And That's Good (Forbes)
  • Public Transit Loses to Polluters in Climate Bill Subsidies (Washington Independent)
  • Ways and Means committee puts Oberstar's highway bill on hold for health legislation (The Hill)
  • Drivers asked to test alternative to fuel tax (AP)
  • Freeway Air Pollution Is So Much Worse Than You Thought (Infrastructurist)
  • Mall City (The Architects Newspaper)
  • Top 20 Metro Areas Get 28% of Road Stimulus, 61% of Transit Stimulus (Streetsblog DC)
  • In health bill, billions for parks, paths (Boston Globe)
  • Strapped Cities Outsource Transit Lines (Wall Street Journal)
  • Obama Paints a New Vision for Nation's Urban Policy (Washington Post: Article, Editorial)

International news

  • Lord Adonis: 'high-speed rail would be end of domestic flights' (Telegraph)
  • There is no free parking (Montreal Gazette)
  • London Gets 6 Hybrid Double Deck Buses from Volvo (Treehugger)
  • Boundaries of Tram Operation Extended Beyond Catenary (Transport Politic)
  • Real-Life Wall-E Recycling Robot Takes to the Streets of Italy (Inhabitat)
  • Buses May Aid Climate Battle in Poor Cities (New York Times)
  • Everything You Wanted to Know About Bogota's Transformation (The City Fix)
  • High-speed rail plan part of strategy to reduce transport emissions (Guardian)