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September 8, 2010

Ergo Crosswalk
New 'Ergo Crosswalk' Design
(Photo courtesy FastCoDesign.com)


Highlights

  • Breaking the Cape bottleneck (Cape Cod Times)
    By Sarah Shemkus -- At the peak of the summer, an average of nearly 20,000 cars cross the Bourne and Sagamore bridges in each direction every month. On Sunday afternoons, lines of traffic several miles long are not uncommon as seasonal visitors head home. "We need another egress from this little island of ours," said William Zammer, a local restaurateur and the chairman of the board of directors at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. "I believe there should be another bridge."
  • On Biking: Fixing the Charles River bridges for bikers (Boston Globe)
    By Jonathan Simmons -- I never thought of the bridges over the Charles River as more than a fixed, but dangerous way to get to the other side. They’re survivable, but barely ride-able. Nobody I know goes out of their way to cross one. And the bike paths? They’re crowded and the pavement’s cracked and bumpy. [...] One of LivableStreets’ current projects is the Better Bridges Campaign, which hopes to improve the redesign of the paths and bridges along the Charles River Basin.
  • Proposal for Boston's First Electric Vehicle Charging Facility in Bulfinch Triangle (NorthEndWaterfront.com, Boston Herald)
    Bob O’Brien from the Downtown North Association shares this proposal for a “Green Park & Charge” facility in the Bulfinch Triangle on Friend St., in the former location of the old Mobil Station. The proposal is timely, especially in consideration of electric vehicle introductions as recently described in the Boston Herald. Dinosaur Capital Partners, a Boston-based development and investment group has a purchase and sale agreement on the now-vacant Mobil Station on Friend Street and they are planning to develop that location as Boston’s first electric vehicle charging and parking facility.
  • City Has Transformed Broadway (New York Times)
    By Michael M. Grynbaum -- It is Manhattan’s most famous thoroughfare, known around the world for its theater marquees and giant Macy’s. It has come to symbolize the outsize aspirations and swagger of New York. But under the Bloomberg administration, Broadway has been transformed, from a grand avenue that ferried automobiles on a scenic route through Midtown to a narrow passageway with barely more room for cars than a sleepy street in Greenwich Village.
  • Free Parking Comes at a Price (New York Times)
    By Tyler Cowen -- IN our society, cars receive considerable attention and study — whether the subject is buying and selling them, the traffic congestion they cause or the dangerous things we do in them, like texting and talking on cellphones while driving. But we haven’t devoted nearly enough thought to how cars are usually deployed — namely, by sitting in parking spaces. Is this a serious economic issue? In fact, it’s a classic tale of how subsidies, use restrictions, and price controls can steer an economy in wrong directions. Car owners may not want to hear this, but we have way too much free parking.
    Related: Free Markets for Free Parking (Cato @ Liberty)
    Related: Shoup to O'Toole: The Market for Parking Is Anything But Free (Streetsblog)
  • VIDEO: No Need for Speed: 20's Plenty for Us (Streetfilms)
    By Elizabeth Price -- Earlier this month, the New York City Department of Transportation announced plans to experiment with 20 mph zones -- replacing the city's default 30 mph speed limit in one pilot neighborhood. Whoever gets the first 20 mph treatment will see benefits that residents of British cities and towns have become increasingly familiar with in recent years. In the UK, some 3 million people live in areas with 20 mph speed limits. The experience there shows that not only do slower speeds save lives, but lowering the limit to 20 mph improves the way local streets function in more ways than one.

"Streets"

Bicycling

  • Dodging raindrops on your bike (Boston Cyclists Union)
  • On Biking: trapped inside by rain? Not a problem. (Boston Globe)
  • On Biking: Fixing the Charles River bridges for bikers (Boston Globe)
  • Cyclist says police officer pushed him (Boston Globe)
  • On Biking: Charles River Wheelmen make it 700 consecutive Saturdays this week (Boston Globe)
  • Brookline Town Meeting to eye ban of child seats on bicycles (Brookline TAB)

Transit

  • Green Line Extension/Community Path Extension --
  • MBTA Campaign To Nab Gropers Paying Off (WCVB)
  • New commuter rail station in Rhode Island connecting communities, creating jobs (USDOT)
  • Experts sound alarm on crumbling T spans (Boston Herald)
  • Orange tape clears sticky MBTA situation (Boston Globe)
  • Station Without Wheelchair Access Adds Hours To Commute (WCVB)
  • First Subway in Boston: Happy 113th Birthday (MassDOT Blog)

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

  • Safe Routes program may be expanded to Newton's middle, high schools (Boston Globe)
  • MassDOT Makes Open Government and Transparency Top Priority: Q&A with Klark Jessen (Awareness)
  • Tim Cahill: Transportation project funding is off the rails (Patriot Ledger)

Parks

Development projects

Land Use/Planning

  • Haverhill rebounds by building housing to take advantage of commuter rail (Boston Globe)
  • How to shrink a city (Boston Globe)

Out-of-state

National trends

International news