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February 3, 2009

High Speed Rail in Taiwan
High-Speed Train in Taiwan
(Photo courtesy WIRED)
 

Highlights

  • State officials detail BU Bridge, Craigie Dam Bridge (Cambridge Chronicle)
    By Meghann Ackerman -- CAMBRIDGE -- As the start date for construction on some of Cambridge's bridges nears, new plans, which are supposed to be more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, were brought to the public. TooleDesignGroup, a Maryland-based design group, presented plans at a public meeting held by the Department of Conservation and Recreation on Jan. 27 plans. The plans include features like clearly marked biked lanes, wider sidewalks and crosswalks and a redesign of the rotary near the B.U. Bridge.
High Speed Rail in Taiwan
High-Speed Train in Taiwan
(Photo courtesy WIRED)
 

Highlights

  • State officials detail BU Bridge, Craigie Dam Bridge (Cambridge Chronicle)
    By Meghann Ackerman -- CAMBRIDGE -- As the start date for construction on some of Cambridge's bridges nears, new plans, which are supposed to be more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, were brought to the public. TooleDesignGroup, a Maryland-based design group, presented plans at a public meeting held by the Department of Conservation and Recreation on Jan. 27 plans. The plans include features like clearly marked biked lanes, wider sidewalks and crosswalks and a redesign of the rotary near the B.U. Bridge.

     

  • State wants to extend Green Line to Mystic River (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Somerville Journal, WBZ)
    The state recommended today that the MBTA's Green Line should be extended all the way to the Mystic River, a decision that will take the trolley line a mile further into Medford than an alternative route that stopped at Tufts University. The $600 million plan, which will require federal funding, would move Lechmere Station and extend the trolley line to the Mystic Valley Parkway, which is also known as Route 16.

     

  • MOOK: Whose streets (Daily Free Press)
    For one day, the normally clogged, smog-filled, traffic jammed, steep streets of La Paz, Bolivia were free of cars. They were free of microbuses, free of taxis and mopeds and free of noisy intersections that would otherwise be polluted with the blaring sounds of horns and whistles from traffic cops. But on this one day, there was peace. To go out into the city was glorious, liberating, inviting and safe.

     

  • "Smart Transportation Economic Stimulation: Infrastructure Investments That Support Strategic Planning Objectives Provide True Economic Development" [pdf] (VTPI)
    This timely new report discusses factors to consider when evaluating transportation economic stimulation strategies. Transportation investments can have large long-term economic, social and environmental impacts. Expanding urban highways tends to stimulate motor vehicle travel and sprawl, exacerbating future transport problems and threatening future economic productivity. Improving alternative modes (walking and cycling conditions, and public transit service quality) tends to reduce total motor vehicle traffic and associated costs, providing additional long-term economic savings and benefits. Increasing transport system efficiency tends to create far more jobs than those created directly by infrastructure investments. Domestic automobile industry subsidies are ineffective at stimulating employment or economic development. Public policies intended to support domestic automobile sales could be economically harmful in the long-term.

     

  • High-Speed Trains Return to U.S. Fast Track (WIRED) 1/28
    After languishing at the margins of federal policy for most of the past decade, passenger rail is moving to the fore as President Barack Obama joins a growing number of states in calling for heavy investment in America's rail infrastructure. The president's $825 billion economic stimulus package includes $30 billion for rail and mass transit projects; a Senate version specifically allocates $850 million for Amtrak and $2 billion for high-speed rail. It's significant, because Obama has long favored expanding passenger rail service and has specifically called for a rail network linking Chicago with the major cities of the Midwest. Some aren't waiting for the feds to get with it.

     

  • Denmark's "Two-Thirds Green, One-Third Black" Traffic Investment Plan (The City Fix)
    Last Thursday, the Danish government agreed to invest 94 billion kroner ($16 billion) to improve the nation’s roads, railways and bike lanes by 2020. Traffic Minister Lars Barfoed was quoted by The Copenhagen Post as saying, “The shape of the agreement is clear: two-thirds green, one-third black,” meaning that most of the budget will go towards public transit infrastructure and the rest will be spent on asphalt road projects.
     

"Streets"

Walking

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

  • "Smart Transportation Economic Stimulation: Infrastructure Investments That Support Strategic Planning Objectives Provide True Economic Development" [pdf] (VTPI)
  • Councilors' perk goes out of vogue (Boston Globe)
     
  • Better Boston by the numbers (Boston Globe)
     

Development projects

Out-of-state

National trends

International news

  • The Bicycle Diaries: 3 Part Series (BBC Radio)
     
  • Brisbane Bike Hire Go-Ahead (Westender)
  • Winter cycling cool in Quebec (AFP)
  • Biking to work boost health and profits: Dutch survey (Yahoo! News)
     
  • 94 Billion for Bikes (Copenhagenize.com)
     
  • The Biceberg - Bicycle Parking Underground (Copenhagenize.com)
     
  • Denmark's "Two-Thirds Green, One-Third Black" Traffic Investment Plan (The City Fix)