December 21, 2009

Copenhagen Wheel
The Copenhagen Wheel
(Photo courtesy MIT)

Highlights

  • Starts & Stops: Highway barriers block much more than sound; Free parking good for the short term, but costs down the road (Boston Globe)
    [Ed. Mark Chase is a former board member of LivableStreets Alliance.]
    By Noah Bierman -- It’s tough to think about car exhaust and eight-lane highways when you’re in a sparse Idaho desert, staring at bales of straw. But such was the task for a group of federal research meteorologists last year who conducted a study on traffic sound barriers. [...] The research found that the barriers do more than protect neighbors against unwanted sounds. They also keep pollution away, reducing it by more than 50 percent on the other side of the barrier.
    -----
    Merchants and shoppers cheered when Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced last month that he was giving away free parking during the holiday season for the 16th year in a row. [...] Chase says that when there is a parking shortage, giving it away free is about the worst thing you can do, for everybody. The lure of free parking draws more drivers who may have otherwise carpooled, walked, or taken public transportation. They all compete for fewer spots, driving in circles and spewing pollution in hopes of snagging one, and getting progressively angrier at the world when they don’t.
  • Walking in JP gets safer (Jamaica Plain Gazette)
    Walking in Jamaica Plain got a little safer in recent weeks thanks to improvements at two popular pedestrian crossings on Centre and Amory streets. A new, high-visibility pedestrian crossing sign went up literally in Centre Street at the Seaverns Avenue intersection, bolted into the pavement on the double-yellow line. And on Amory Street, a popular crossing between the Southwest Corridor Park and The Brewery business complex finally got an official crosswalk, following discussions in Boston Police JP Traffic and Parking Committee. A pedestrian-friendly redesign of the Amory/Boylston streets intersection nearby may be coming next year.
  • Filling in the gaps in the city (Boston Globe)
    By Anthony Flint -- THE MACHINATIONS in Copenhagen, where international negotiators hope to reach an accord on climate change, have had a remote and almost otherworldly quality - China refusing to be monitored, the island of Tavula pleading for its continued existence, the financiers pushing cap and trade, the magic number of 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere as far as away as Christmas seems to my 5-year-old son. Right here in Boston, however, there is something tangible we can do to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions: support infill redevelopment.
  • Plan gives builders a parking brake (MaineBusiness.com)
    Portland officials hope to promote development by offering companies the option of paying fees in lieu of creating parking.
    By Tom Bell -- PORTLAND — Developers would have the option of paying fees instead of creating parking spaces when they build commercial buildings, under a proposal being developed by city officials. The fees would fund transportation-related improvements, such as shared parking facilities, bicycle lanes and buses. The system would remove barriers for downtown development while providing revenue for alternative transportation, said City Councilor Kevin Donoghue.
  • New FHWA rules give more engineers more tools for bike [and ped] traffic (BikePortland, UPI)
    By Jonathan Maus -- This morning the Federal Highway Administration released a 135-page comprehensive update to their Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a standards guide that has driven (pun intended) the design of traffic controls in America for over three decades. In a press statement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the updates — the first major changes since 2003 — where part of a “continuing effort to improve safety on the nation’s roads and bridges”. Several of the new updates will make it easier for city traffic engineers across the country to implement signs, signals, and markings that improve conditions for biking and walking.
  • VIDEO: Copenhagen's Climate-Friendly, Bike-Friendly Streets (Streetfilms)
    By Elizabeth Press -- Tens of thousands of people from nearly every nation on earth have descended on Copenhagen this month for the UN climate summit. As the delegates try to piece together a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they're also absorbing lessons from one of the world's leading cities in sustainable transportation. In Copenhagen, fully 37 percent of commute trips are made by bike, and mode share among city residents alone is even higher. Come see "the busiest bicycling street in the Western world", and lots of other you-gotta-see-them-to-believe-them features including bike counters (featuring digital readouts), LEDS, double bike lanes (for passing) and giant hot pink cars.

"Streets"

  • How Dream Became Reality on Boylston Street (Fenway News)
  • State completes work on Cambridge St, returns control of roadway to city (Beacon Hill Times)
  • Brookline transportation officials give in to Welland Road neighbors (Brookline TAB)
  • Somerville wants control of Shore Drive (Somerville Journal, Somerville News)
  • Of patches, potholes in South End (Boston Globe)
  • Starts & Stops: Highway barriers block much more than sound; Free parking good for the short term, but costs down the road (Boston Globe)
  • Boston planning to convert lights to LEDs (Boston Herald)
  • Mass. Turnpike usage drops (Boston Globe)
  • City Manager Letter re: River St/Mass Ave intersection (City of Cambridge)
  • Proposed changes for Marblehead street may have public support (Daily Item of Lynn)
  • Traffic-Related Air Pollution Linked to Higher Miscarriage Rates (EDF)

Walking

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

  • Citizen Connect: How does the City's iPhone App Stack Up? (Fox 25)
  • Bicycle advocate ousted from Brookline's Transportation Board (Brookline TAB)
  • Mayor's Office: No records on how CACs formed (Jamaica Plain Gazette)
  • "Fix it first!" New projects get the headlines, but we need to repair what we already have (CommonWealth Unbound)

Parks

Development projects

Land Use/Planning

  • House Bill 853 Casts Shadow Over Development (Bostonist)
    • Who would you rather have deciding what gets built downtown: The BRA or the state legislature? (Universal Hub)
    • Greenway to be exempted from shadow-protected legislation (Universal Hub)
  • Filling in the gaps in the city (Boston Globe)

Out-of-state

National trends

International news

  • Scientists create formula for perfect parking (Telegraph)
  • VIDEO: Copenhagen's Climate-Friendly, Bike-Friendly Streets (Streetfilms)
  • 75 years after the UK's first cycle lane opened, the same debates rage on (Guardian)
  • The daily drudge (Economist)
  • United Kingdom Commits to Further Rail Electrification (Transport Politic)
  • Lower speed limits advised for road accident blackspots (BBC)
  • Japan enters high-speed train sales race (AP)
  • Beijing 'now has 4m vehicles' (BBC)