Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Park & Rides Lose Money and Waste Land — But Agencies Keep Building Them
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Transit agencies shell out big bucks to build and operate parking facilities. But how much do we really know about what they get for their money?
The surface parking lot at WMATA’s Branch Avenue station. Photo: TRB
Researchers Lisa Jacobson and Rachel Weinberger surveyed 37 American transit agencies about park-and-ride facilities. They found that despite the expense of [...]
U.S. Traffic Fatalities Rising Fast — Especially Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths
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Traffic fatalities in America hit a seven-year high in 2015, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for a disproportionate share of the alarming increase, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Last year, 35,200 people were killed in traffic — a 7.7 percent increase over 2014 and the worst death toll since 2008. The number of people killed while walking [...]
4 Ways Road Builders Game the Numbers to Justify Highways
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The people who make the case for highways often present themselves as unbiased technicians, simply providing evidence to an audience subject to irrational bias.
Forecasts said motorists would make 21,000 trips per day on Greenville’s Southern Connector, a public-private toll road. In real life they made fewer than 9,000. Map via Toll Road News
But traffic forecasting is not a neutral, dispassionate exercise. It [...]
Anthony Foxx to Local Officials: Transport Policy Should Tackle Segregation
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Local transportation officials should actively work to reduce segregation and promote equal access to quality schools, three Cabinet members say in a “dear colleague” letter released last week [PDF].
Are good schools accessible by walking, biking, and transit? Cabinet members say they should be. Image: Streetfilms
The message from Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and Education Secretary John King urges [...]
Walkable Cities Are More Affordable Than You Think – We Need More of Them
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People living in walkable cities may have high housing costs, but they also tend to have low transportation costs and better access to jobs, according to a new study from Smart Growth America [PDF].
The most walkable metro areas have better job access and lower transportation costs, lightening the burden of high housing costs. Table: Smart Growth America
SGA ranked the [...]
Car Dependence and the Troubling Rise of Subprime Auto Loans
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There have been warning signs about the growth in subprime auto loans for years now. But the issue got some very high-profile attention last week when JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon raised concerns that there may be a bubble in the auto lending market.
Photo: Credit Now Auto Sales
Since the economic recovery began, lending institutions have actually loosened standards for car [...]
3 Graphs That Explain Why 20 MPH Should Be the Limit on City Streets
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A still from ProPublica‘s interactive graph.
Speed kills, especially on city streets teeming with pedestrians and cyclists.
The investigative news nonprofit ProPublica has produced an interactive graph that deftly conveys how just a few miles per hour can spell the difference between life and death when a person is struck by a motorist. ProPublica’s Lena Groeger used data from the AAA Safety [...]
House Panel Calls on U.S. DOT to Measure Access to Economic Opportunity
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A bill working its way through Congress may prompt federal officials to get a better handle on how transportation projects help or hinder access to jobs, education, and health care.
Representative Maxine Waters of California sponsored the provision. Photo: Wikipedia
The legislation, which passed out of a House Committee this week, calls for U.S. DOT to measure “the degree to which the [...]
The Problem With “Infrastructure Week”
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You may have noticed that it’s “Infrastructure Week” in America — a time where engineering and construction industry groups beat the drum for more money, using big numbers and images of collapsing bridges.
You can follow the dialogue on Twitter. It’s full of value-neutral statements like this one from Democratic members of the House Committee on Transportation and [...]
How Can Cities Move More People Without Wider Streets? Hint: Not With Cars
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Here’s how many people a single traffic lane can carry “with normal operations,” according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
How can cities make more efficient use of street space, so more people can get where they want to go?
This graphic from the new NACTO Transit Street Design Guide provides a great visual answer. (Hat tip to Sandy Johnston for [...]
Does It Make Sense for Transit Agencies to Pay for “Last Mile” Uber Trips?
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Should transit agencies subsidize short “last-mile” Uber trips to expand transit access for people who live outside comfortable walking distance of a train station?
The green areas denote where people would be eligible for ride-hail commute subsidies. Map: CAP
Columbus, Ohio, has proposed something along these lines as part of its application for U.S. DOT’s Smart City Challenge. The city is one of seven finalists competing for [...]
After Big Push From Mayors, TIGER in Line For Slight Funding Boost
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There’s good news out of the Senate committee responsible for doling out transportation funds.
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail was funded in part with a TIGER grant. Photo: Walk Indianapolis
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee okayed a small increase in TIGER funding, according to Stephen Lee Davis at Transportation for America. TIGER is the program that allows local governments [...]