November 24, 2008
Cycle track design for Cully Boulevard in Portland, Oregon (Photo courtesy BikePortland)
Highlights
- Mayor announces planning process for business streets (
Gazette)
By David Taber -- JP CENTER -- Mayor Thomas Menino announced a
new transportation and
streetscape planning process for Center and South streets at a
ribbon-cutting for the new street clock in front of Citizens Bank Nov.
8. The goal of the planning process will be an
“ultimately healthier and safer place for people to work and walk and
do business,” Menino said. The first planning meeting will be held Dec.
3, at 6 p.m. at the
Curley School, 493 Centre St., Colleen Keller, JP Coordinator form the
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services told the Gazette.
- DiMasi backs gas tax hike over toll rise (
Globe, WBZ)
By Frank Phillips and Matt Viser -- The debate over how much to
tax Massachusetts motorists shifted into
overdrive yesterday when House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, speaking
against the governor's approach of targeting turnpike and tunnel
drivers with higher tolls, said he will push instead for a gas tax
increase. DiMasi did not say what size hike he envisions to the
23.5-cent-per-gallon tax, which has not been substantially increased
since 1991. But the speaker made it clear that he was responding
to an outcry from angry western and northern suburban motorists, who
would be hit by a doubling in some Massachusetts Turnpike and tunnel
tolls under a Turnpike Authority plan that won preliminary approval
last week.
- Patrick calls for timeout on gas-tax rise (
Globe)
By Matt Viser -- Governor Deval Patrick and Senate President
Therese Murray rejected
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's call for a speedy debate on a
gas-tax increase, saying yesterday that such a volatile issue requires
months of study and should only be included in a broader transportation
reform plan. As they gave the thumbs-down to DiMasi, what also became
clear was how
divided Beacon Hill power players have become over how to juggle Big
Dig debts, fix crumbling roads, and build for the future.
- Jan Gehl: New York Could Have World's Best Streets (
By Gideon Shapiro -- When DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan,
together with consultant and
Danish urban planner Jan Gehl, introduced the new "World Class
Streets" doc [
to a crowd of over 300 last Thursday evening at the Center for
Architecture, the event seemed equal parts town hall meeting and
celebrity book launch. Building upon PlaNYC and DOT's
Streets, World Class Streets focuses on improving the public realm
by concentrating on plazas, complete street design, and
Streets-style
pedestrian and cycling events. Together these measures aim to transform
New York streets into "an environment that is enjoyable as well as
functional" for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users of all ages.
Related: An Alfresco chat with Jan Gehl (
- President-Elect Obama Responds to Transportation for America (
Before the last presidential debate Oct. 15, Transportation For
America
asked our supporters to sign a petition urging Sen. McCain and then
Sen. Obama to tell us their plans for keeping America moving and
creating new jobs by investing in our critical transportation system
and infrastructure. More than 3,300 of you signed your names to that
petition we delivered to the candidates just before that last crucial
debate. President-elect Barack Obama heard you and responded to the
campaign
with a two-page thank-you letter outlining his thoughts on
transportation and infrastructure that we would like to share with you.
- 6,000 bikes in 400 locations: Boris Johnson's bike-hire scheme
(Guardian)
By Helene Mulholland -- LONDON -- Londoners will be able to
pick up and drop off one of 6,000 bikes at
400 locations across the capital, Boris Johnson announced today, as he
invited companies to register their interest in setting up his
cycle-hire scheme. But the mayor's plan will require the
"political buy-in" of all London boroughs, according to a Transport for
London study released today. The mayor has yet to receive the
green light from all nine London boroughs and several royal parks in
London's central "zone one" area that would host the bikes' so-called
docking stations, guardian.co.uk has learned. The scheme was one of
Johnson's manifesto promises and is inspired by the successful
Cycle track design for Cully Boulevard in Portland, Oregon (Photo courtesy BikePortland)
Highlights
- Mayor announces planning process for business streets (
Gazette)
By David Taber -- JP CENTER -- Mayor Thomas Menino announced a
new transportation and
streetscape planning process for Center and South streets at a
ribbon-cutting for the new street clock in front of Citizens Bank Nov.
8. The goal of the planning process will be an
“ultimately healthier and safer place for people to work and walk and
do business,” Menino said. The first planning meeting will be held Dec.
3, at 6 p.m. at the
Curley School, 493 Centre St., Colleen Keller, JP Coordinator form the
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services told the Gazette.
- DiMasi backs gas tax hike over toll rise (
Globe, WBZ)
By Frank Phillips and Matt Viser -- The debate over how much to
tax Massachusetts motorists shifted into
overdrive yesterday when House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, speaking
against the governor's approach of targeting turnpike and tunnel
drivers with higher tolls, said he will push instead for a gas tax
increase. DiMasi did not say what size hike he envisions to the
23.5-cent-per-gallon tax, which has not been substantially increased
since 1991. But the speaker made it clear that he was responding
to an outcry from angry western and northern suburban motorists, who
would be hit by a doubling in some Massachusetts Turnpike and tunnel
tolls under a Turnpike Authority plan that won preliminary approval
last week.
- Patrick calls for timeout on gas-tax rise (
Globe)
By Matt Viser -- Governor Deval Patrick and Senate President
Therese Murray rejected
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's call for a speedy debate on a
gas-tax increase, saying yesterday that such a volatile issue requires
months of study and should only be included in a broader transportation
reform plan. As they gave the thumbs-down to DiMasi, what also became
clear was how
divided Beacon Hill power players have become over how to juggle Big
Dig debts, fix crumbling roads, and build for the future.
- Jan Gehl: New York Could Have World's Best Streets (
By Gideon Shapiro -- When DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan,
together with consultant and
Danish urban planner Jan Gehl, introduced the new "World Class
Streets" doc [
to a crowd of over 300 last Thursday evening at the Center for
Architecture, the event seemed equal parts town hall meeting and
celebrity book launch. Building upon PlaNYC and DOT's
Streets, World Class Streets focuses on improving the public realm
by concentrating on plazas, complete street design, and
Streets-style
pedestrian and cycling events. Together these measures aim to transform
New York streets into "an environment that is enjoyable as well as
functional" for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users of all ages.
Related: An Alfresco chat with Jan Gehl (
- President-Elect Obama Responds to Transportation for America (
Before the last presidential debate Oct. 15, Transportation For
America
asked our supporters to sign a petition urging Sen. McCain and then
Sen. Obama to tell us their plans for keeping America moving and
creating new jobs by investing in our critical transportation system
and infrastructure. More than 3,300 of you signed your names to that
petition we delivered to the candidates just before that last crucial
debate. President-elect Barack Obama heard you and responded to the
campaign
with a two-page thank-you letter outlining his thoughts on
transportation and infrastructure that we would like to share with you.
- 6,000 bikes in 400 locations: Boris Johnson's bike-hire scheme
(Guardian)
By Helene Mulholland -- LONDON -- Londoners will be able to
pick up and drop off one of 6,000 bikes at
400 locations across the capital, Boris Johnson announced today, as he
invited companies to register their interest in setting up his
cycle-hire scheme. But the mayor's plan will require the
"political buy-in" of all London boroughs, according to a Transport for
London study released today. The mayor has yet to receive the
green light from all nine London boroughs and several royal parks in
London's central "zone one" area that would host the bikes' so-called
docking stations, guardian.co.uk has learned. The scheme was one of
Johnson's manifesto promises and is inspired by the successful
"Streets"
- Traffic Studies (
Palmer's Journal) - Route 128 Widening In Norfolk County Gets OK (
- Iconic Harvard Square newsstand to close (
Chronicle) - City unveils new design proposals for Rutherford Avenue/Sullivan
Square (Charlestown
Bridge) - A new (but familiar) plan for downtown (
Globe) - Mayor announces planning process for business streets (
Gazette) - By order of the state: no hustle, no bustle (
Globe) - News in brief -- Cameras in Brookline, Bike-sharing in Cambridge,
Ticketing cyclists in Somerville (
Globe)
Walking
- Man charged in death of pedestrian (
Globe) - On Mass. Ave., a danger zone for pedestrians (
Globe) - Beacon-Harvard walk signals ill-timed (
Globe)
Bicycling
- Letter: Cyclist's lament (
Globe)
Transit
- Administration retreats from plan to fund new rail with related
jobs (
House News Service) - Somerville, Medford to confirm locations of Green Line extension
terminus, support facility (
Daily) - 2 at T may be fired in crashes (
Globe,
Herald) - Commuter route options trimmed (
Globe)
Cars/Parking
- Could you live with one fewer car? (
Globe) - Pay-As-You-Drive Driving (
We Drive)
Parks
- Councilors craft ideas for Common's amenities, funding (
Globe) - Pond advocates swimming with ideas (
Development projects
- Odor facility clouds future of Bayside project (
- South Boston development projects move forward (
Newspapers) - Shreve building fight heads toward court (
Herald) - Editorial: The not-so-ugly truth about City Hall (
Globe) - Stagnancy in Allston worries neighbors as Harvard hints at
expansion slowdown (
TAB) - Columbus Center questions (
Globe)
Land Use/Zoning
- Brookline re-zoning plan shot down (
TAB) - Cambridgeport neighbors push for stricter zoning along Charles (
Chronicle)
Green trends
- Menino preempts Flaherty on the greening of City Hall (
Globe) - House Democrats going greener (
Globe)
Transportation financing/Government
- City tips its cap to the man who made Public Works work (
Globe) - Heavy toll for East Boston (
Globe,
Metro) - DiMasi backs gas tax hike over toll rise (
Globe, WBZ) - 'Disaster' looms with Pike-dodging drivers (
Herald) - Patrick calls for timeout on gas-tax rise (
Globe) - Massport eyes plan to double Tobin toll (
Herald) - Both a gas tax and a (smart) toll hike (
Streets and Sidewalks) - Editorial: No more free rides (
Globe) - Editorial: Transportation: reform before revenue (
Globe) - Editorial: Another road out (
Herald) - Letter: Why not a gax tax? (
Globe) - Letter: Find solution that leads to fewer cars on road (
Globe) - Letter: Patrick punts on issue of fairness (
Globe) - Letter: Where will funds go? (
Globe) - Letter: DiMasi would drive consumers into ditch (
Globe) - First tea, now tolls: Activists protest hikes (
Globe)
Out-of-state
- Buses guided by magnets (
County Register) - Tysons tunnel supportes keep up hope (
Business Journal) - 'Hoop' Wins Bike-Rack Design Contest (
York Times) - A New Vision for the Upper West Side (
- Study Finds Cyclists Disobey Traffic Laws (
York Times) - Cost to park in S.F. could be set by demand (
Francisco Chronicle) - Jan Gehl: New York Could Have World's Best Streets (
- An Alfresco chat with Jan Gehl (
- Portland's first cycle track project proposed for Cully (
- Evidence suggests commuters are abandoning transit habit (
Angeles Times)
National trends
- Is General Motors Worth Saving? (
- Editorial: GM Must Re-Make the Mass Transit System it Murdered (
- Editorial: Have Your Driven a Bus or a Train Lately (
York Times) - President-Elect Obama Responds to Transportation for America (
- Editorial: Barack Obama should rebuild our railroads to bolster
the economy (
Daily News) - Transit Leaders Come To DC To Lobby Congress To Address The
Transit Lending Crisis ( - A bicycle firm aims to unchain the future (
Globe) - A New Report from The Century Foundation: It Will Take More than
Money to Solve the Nation's Infrastructure Crisis (
International news
- Bicycles could disappear from Asia, experts warn (
Post) - 6,000 bikes in 400 locations: Boris Johnson's bike-hire scheme (
- Facing a Slowdown, China's Auto Industry Pressed for Bailout from
Beijing (
York Times) - Facebook App Keeps Danish Cyclists Green and In Touch (
- Waiting for the bus just got cooler [Abu Dhabi] (
National)