March 6, 2014

Bacon Truck
Boston OK's Late Night Food Trucks
(Image courtesy of Boston Magazine)

Unshoveled sidewalks are a walker's nightmare Eastie Times

John Lynds-- Mayor Martin Walsh’s East Boston liaison Corinne Patraglia was at the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Council’s meeting Monday night to answer concerns regarding snow removal in the neighborhood.The JPNA’s Facebook page was lit up days after last week’s snowstorm with pictures of properties that had not shoveled or left sheets of ice making hard to navigate slick sidewalks on streets like Sumner.

New group rallies opposition to the tower OK'd to replace courthouse 'monstrosity' Cambridge Day

Marc Levy-- Neighborhood opposition to plans for East Cambridge’s former courthouse is growing again, taking form in a new group called the Neighborhood Association of East Cambridge that met Sunday to rally public pressure before a March 4 meeting of the Planning Board.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT FEEDBACK: It's Hard to Stay on Route if You Don't Know Where You're Going LivableStreets

MassDOT deserves enormous credit for trying to connect its investment decisions with the desired outcomes.  It’s a challenging and complicated undertaking, constrained in many ways by federal reporting requirements, limited data, and unverified impact-calculating methodologies. The fact that their first attempt, the very impressive WeMove Massachusetts: Planning for Performance tool, is deeply flawed (for example, defining mobility solely as car travel) is much less important than the Agency’s public willingness to admit those flaws and commit itself to an iterative improvement process.  This is something that every public— and private – organization needs to take on, not merely to better serve its stakeholders but also to be better in control of its own fate.

FACT SHEET: President Obama Lays Out Vision for 21st Century Transportation Infrastructure White House

On February 26th, the President will speak at the historic Union Depot train station in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he will launch a competition for $600 million in competitive transportation funding and outline his vision for investing in America’s infrastructure with a $302 billion, four year surface transportation reauthorization proposal.  The President will continue to act when he can to promote job growth in the transportation sector and put more Americans back to work repairing and modernizing our roads, bridges, railways, and transit systems, and will also work with Congress to act to ensure critical transportation programs continue to be funded and do not expire later this year.

"Streets"

  • Littleton Wins National Award for Creating Streets that Work for Everyone Planning 101
  • Nobs turn snobs when it comes to people with disabilities Universal Hub
  • Nonprofit aims to improve transportation, health in Fall River Herald
  • Most Dangerous Intersections in New England Go Local Worcester
  • East Somerville Pin-Up Ideas:  8, 9, 10
  • Taking a Look at Boston's Snow Removal Budget BostInno
  • Guest View: Complete streets create more complete communities South Coast Today
  • PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT FEEDBACK: It's Hard to Stay on Route if You Don't Know Where You're Going LivableStreets
  • Boston Food Trucks Are Going to Test Late-Night Hours Boston Magazine
  • Gentrification vs. growth in Union Square Globe
  • Yawkey to be Boston's first zero net energy station Boston.com

Walking

  • Unshoveled sidewalks are a walker's nightmare Eastie Times
  • Beacon Hill resisting ramps, aids for disabled Globe
    • Beacon Hill commission should yield on ramps for disabled Globe

Bicycling

  • Massachusetts Official: Boston's Winter Cyclists Living in the Wrong City Streetsblog
  • Boston Speaks Up For Protected Bike Lanes MassBike
  • MEMA and BAA tell Boston Midnight Marathon Ride to get the bikes off their lawn BitsbyBike
  • Spurned by state, cyclists vow to hold race on Marathon route Globe

Parks

  • DCR reaches out, seeks to review snow & ice policies BCU
  • Esplanade Cafe to Open under New Management Beacon Hill Times
  • DCR: Spring meeting for pond access improvement JP Gazette

Transit

  • You Can Sign This MBTA #YouthPass Petition; YAC Seeks 10k Signatures BostInno
  • Green Line public art -- Artists wanted for new stations Globe
  • MBTA: No plans to accept Bitcoin for T passes Boston.com
  • Does riding the commuter rail change attitudes on immigration? Globe
  • BusPlus: New Regional Services Added Mass Transpo Blog
  • These Real-Time Transit Screens Belong in Every Lobby Atlantic Cities
  • Simulation of Green Line extension shows Medford residents a smooth ride Boston.com
  • Check out new schedule for Yawkey Station and Worcester-Framingham line Boston.com
  • MassDOT BusPlus New Regional Service Announced Mass Transpo Blog
  • Young Professionals Discuss Improvements for Key MBTA Bus Routes BostInno
  • Care to Take the MBTA Customer Opinion Survey? BostInno
  • Letter: Failed logic in T's rejection of bus yard move JP Gazette
  • MBTA station naming rights effort derailed Biz Journals
  • Second 17-month service disruption looms for Lechmere; public market idea still alive Cambridge Day

Cars/Parking

  • City Parking: New Process for Obtaining Residential Stickers in Place Everett Independent
  • How come Boston doesn't charge for resident parking permits? Universal Hub
  • Invasion of the Taxi Snatchers: Uber Leads an Industry's Disruption Businessweek
  • An experimental fix: the yellow flashing arrow Boston.com
  • What gives with State Police at routes 12 and 28? Boston.com
  • Parking woes dog Logan Airport Herald
  • Plan Ahead: I-90 Weekend Lane Restrictions Through Boston Mass Transpo Blog
  • Uber gets some support from new mayor Boston Globe
  • So what's that crazy thing state police are doing inside the Ted Williams Tunnel? Boston.com
  • State Rep. Wants to Open Up HOV Lanes For a Few Extra Hours Boston Magazine

Transportation Finance/Government

  • MBTA retirement board split over opening up files Globe
  • The MBTA Capital Investment Program FY15-19 Walking Bostonian

Development projects

  • Boston Callahan Tunnel, Longfellow Bridge Traffic Updates BostInno
  • 'Insanity' Plea -- Cambridge Group Wants Shorter Courthouse Curbed
  • New group raillies opposition to the tower OK'd to replace courthouse 'monstrosity' Cambridge Day
  • Historic review continues Casey delay JP Gazette
  • Needham 40B apartment developer appealing town's decision to slash project size Boston.com
  • Callahan Tunnel on track to reopen by March 12 deadline Globe

Land Use/Planning

  • State may add 3rd Cape Cod bridge WCVB
  • Neighbors, MassDOT move to add permanent improvements to space underneath I-93 in the South End Boston.com
  • Marty Walsh digs into Fenway’s deals Herald

Out-of-state

  • NY
    • The Future of Urban Freeways Is Playing Out Right Now in Syracuse Atlantic Cities
    • If Uber Is Killing Taxis, What Explains New York's Million-Dollar Medallions? Business Week
    • The Mean Streets of New York NY Times
  • RI
    • Providence: The Suburbanization of Olneyville by Jef Nickerson Urbanophile
  • CA
    • Los Angles Launching First Bicycle Friendly Business District Planetizen
    • Google donates $6.8 million to fund free transit rides for San Francisco youth The Verge
    • New Starts: Federal Money for LA Rail, Later-Night Philly Subways, Freight Drama in Mexico Next City
    • How Getting Rid of Parking Can Drive Away Drug Dealers Atlantic Cities
  • GA
    • MARTA Expansion Could Help Reverse Atlanta's Legacy of Segregation Streetsblog
  • NJ
    • NJ Transit Chief Resigns Metro
  • IL
  • DC
    • DC Police Ticketed Deceased Victim of City’s Negligent Snow Removal Streetsblog
  • PA
    • Pittsburgh Turns a Traffic Shortcut Into a Scenic, Car-Free Park Road Streetsblog
  • TN
    • Mass transit dominates sold-out talk on Nashville's development future BizJournals

National trends

  • A New Documentary Highlights the Reinvention of America's Streets Atlantic Cities
  • Housing shortage or urbanism shortage? Better Cities
  • Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joins electric bus company: "EV is the future of transit" Tree Hugger
  • Why Clearing Sidewalks Isn't a Priority Like Plowing Streets Streetsblog
  • Why Is It Still So Hard to Find Out How States Are Spending Transpo Money? Streetsblog
  • The Next Breakthrough for American Bike Lanes: Protected Intersections Streetsblog
  • New LED Light For Bicycles Is So Awesome That Every Cyclist Will Want It For Sure Wonderful Engineering
  • Default to Green: cyclists have priority while drivers wait for the lights to change View from the Cycle Path
  • The Fascinating History of New York and Boston's Race to Build a Subway Atlantic Cities
  • FACT SHEET: President Obama Lays Out Vision for 21st Century Transportation Infrastructure White House
  • Pavement Vortex: A Tough Winter Takes It Out on Roads Business Week
  • Highway Trust Fund Projected to Become Insolvent Earlier than Expected Planetizen
  • Why More U.S. Cities Need to Embrace Bus-Rapid Transit Atlantic Cities
  • Two Maps Show How We Designed Walking Out of the Suburbs Streetsblog
  • Talking Headways Podcast: One More Freeway Without a Future Streetsblog
  • We're Driving Less, So Should We Stop Building New Roads? Atlantic Cities
  • Cycling in cities: the search for the world's most bike-friendly metropolis The Guardian
  • Costly Driving Time Warp at the U.S. Department of Transportation Huffington Post

International news

  • Velsen, nominee for best cycling city Bicycle Dutch
  • Disappearing traffic lights. How a second transport revolution in the Netherlands made mass cycling possible despite the rise in cars View from the Cycle Path
  • The success of Hong Kong Transit as "the exception" that proves the rule Urban Places and Spaces