Angie Schmitt
Angie is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.
Recent Posts
The Case for a Tax on Parking Lots
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Parking lots make cities less walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly. They crowd out space for housing. But with a parking lot tax, incentives change and using parking as a placeholder becomes a lot less attractive.
8 Transportation Engineering Euphemisms That Should Be Tossed Out
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To this day, jargon that originated in the mid-20th Century highway era tilts transportation engineering against walking, biking, and transit.
Seattle Just Canned Its Bike-Share System. What Went Wrong?
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If Seattle is going to give bike-share another try, it will have to learn from this experience. The Pronto system started off small and never scaled up. And that mandatory helmet law really didn't help.
One British City’s Transit Solution: Tax Parking
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Nottingham, England, is winning recognition around the U.K. for its successful commuter parking program, which charges employers for the spaces they provide to employees and directs the revenue to transit.
The Injustice of Subsidizing Jobs People Can Only Reach By Driving
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The more far-flung the jobs in a region, the fewer are accessible via transit, biking, and walking -- or even a short, inexpensive car commute. And yet, in many states, economic development policies still contribute to long, burdensome commutes, especially for people who can't afford cars.
Transportation Agencies Will Finally Measure the Movement of People, Not Just Cars
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Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in the quest for free-flowing vehicular traffic. The result is wider highways, more sprawl, and more people stuck in congestion. But this week U.S. DOT took an important step to change course, releasing new standards to guide how transportation agencies measure their performance. Advocates for transit and walkability say the policy is a significant improvement.
Anticipating a Big Year for Transit Expansion in 2017
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About 80 major new transitways will be under construction across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, reports Yonah Freemark in his annual roundup.
3 Highlights From Elaine Chao’s Very Vague Confirmation Hearing
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Chao gave a tight-lipped performance that didn't reveal much about how she would use the regulatory and approval power at her disposal, but here are three instances where you can try to read the tea leaves.
The Wait for the Bus Feels Longer If Your Stop Is Near Heavy Traffic
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A pleasant waiting environment can make transit trips seem shorter, while lots of traffic and pollution make waits seem longer than they really are, according to a new study.
The Unequal Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
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News reports tend to blame the victims of these crashes for transgressions like "distracted walking" or crossing where they shouldn't have. But a new analysis from Smart Growth America highlights how pedestrian deaths are a systemic problem caused by the dangerous design of our streets and transportation systems.
Cuomo’s New Economic Strategy for Buffalo: More Light Rail
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After Andrew Cuomo's previous economic development strategies became embroiled in a federal corruption probe, big corporate tax breaks are out, and investments in transit and walkability are in.
These U.S. Cities Offer the Best Job Access to Transit Riders
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How well does your city's transit system connect people to jobs? A new report from the University of Minnesota lays out how many jobs are accessible via transit in major American cities.