Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
How Good Is the Transit Where You Live? Measure It With AllTransit
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The top ten rankings are great conversation fodder, but the real strength of AllTransit is its deep reservoir of data, enabling multifaceted analysis of transit quality at many different scales. Table via AllTransit.
Do you have the sense that transit in your city could be a lot better, and you want to show your local elected officials what [...]
A Big Opportunity to Reform the Vicious Cycle of Highway Expansion
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Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx made headlines recently with a speech about how America needs to rethink its approach to urban highways. But U.S. DOT’s influence is limited. States have the real power when it comes spending federal transportation funds, however, and a lot of states are still stuck in the cycle of addressing traffic congestion by widening highways, [...]
Calgary Tackles the “Sprawl Subsidy”
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As of last month, it costs more to buy a home on the sprawling edges of Canada’s third-largest city.
Build on a sprawling greenfield site in Calgary, pay a fee. Photo: Wikipedia
Under a new rule, Calgary assesses a higher water fee on developers building homes in greenfield locations than on new homes in developed areas, to reflect the higher cost [...]
Retired Fire Chief: Make American Firetrucks Fit City Streets, Not Vice Versa
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It’s a sad irony that fire departments, while essential to public safety, are often a major obstacle to safer streets in American cities.
A smaller European fire truck (top) and an oversized American one (bottom). Photos: FireHouse.com
When cities try to redesign streets to reduce traffic injuries and get drivers to travel at safer speeds, the local fire department often steps in to prevent changes that [...]
Finally, a Little Accountability for State DOTs on Bike and Pedestrian Safety
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In a win for bike and pedestrian safety, the Federal Highway Administration announced yesterday that it will require state transportation agencies to do something they have never had to do before: set goals to reduce bike and pedestrian fatalities, and track progress toward attaining those goals.
Photo: Bicycle and Pedestrian Information Center
The news is part of FHWA’s [...]
American Sharrow Inventor: “I Was Always Under Pressure to Do Less”
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Sharrows, what are they good for? A recent study suggests that one thing shared lane markings don’t do is improve safety for cyclists. The conclusion has sparked an online debate and some detailed defense of sharrows in the right conditions.
The original American sharrow, developed in Denver in the early 1990s. Image: The Bicycle Story
Seattle-based journalist Josh Cohen produces the [...]
Pedestrian Deaths Make Up a Rising Share of U.S. Traffic Fatalities
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Pedestrians account for an increasing share of traffic deaths in the U.S. Source: GHSA
Pedestrian deaths rose 10 percent in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period the year before, according to preliminary data released by the Governors Highway Safety Association. If that increase held up over all 12 months of 2015, it would be among the worst [...]
Parking Madness: Send Us Pics of Parking Lots Where Your City Should Be
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Parking craters that won the whole thing (left to right): Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden.
Does your city have what it takes to compete in Streetsblog’s fourth annual Parking Madness tournament? Who will join Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden, NJ, as winners of the coveted “Golden Crater”?
We’re looking for 16 parking scars blighting American downtowns. One will advance through our bracket to [...]
High Transportation Costs Make a Lot of HUD Housing Unaffordable
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Maps of Atlanta (left) and Detroit (right) show HUD rental units with high transportation costs in red and those with affordable transportation costs in yellow. Maps: University of Texas
Rental assistance from HUD isn’t enough to make the cost of living affordable when the subsidies go toward housing in car-dependent areas, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Texas and the [...]
Sober Non-Partisan Analysis: America Wastes a Ton of Money on Highways
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Photo: Dhanix/Wikipedia
A good deal of the $46 billion the federal government pours into highway spending each year is going to waste, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report [PDF].
The conclusion won’t surprise regular Streetsblog readers, but it’s the source that’s interesting. The CBO is not an advocacy group or an ideologically-minded think tank. It’s a non-partisan budget watchdog charged [...]
4 Things Schools Can Do to Reduce the Asthma Threat From Idling Cars
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Lately, American schools have been pretty responsive to public health and safety threats facing children. Witness the rise of peanut butter bans or the dwindling number of vending machines in schools.
Idling near schools can trigger asthma attacks — a leading cause of childhood mortality. So why do so many parents do it? Photo: IdleFreeVermont
But schools haven’t been [...]
Traffic Engineers Still Rely on a Flawed 1970s Study to Reject Crosswalks
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When St. Louis decided not to maintain colorful new crosswalks that residents had painted, the city’s pedestrian coordinator cited federal guidance. A 2011 FHWA memo warns that colorful designs could “create a false sense of security” for pedestrians and motorists.
Shoddy, 50-year-old research is an obstacle to grassroots street safety efforts like this fleur-de-lis crosswalk in St. Louis. [...]