Even in some of America’s biggest cities, you’d be amazed at the gaps in sidewalk networks. Most of Seattle has sidewalks, says Tom Fucoloro at Seattle Bike Blog, but some of the more recently annexed sections of the city do not. The cost to fill in the gaps was recently pegged at a whopping $3.6 billion. But Seattle […]

If you’ve ever biked on a city street — or even just driven a little below the speed limit — you’ve probably encountered this situation: A driver behind you starts honking in irritation, then races past you at frightening speed only to hit a red light at the next intersection. What is the source of all that aggression? Adam Miller at Streets.mn […]

It’s been two months since Houston debuted its redesigned bus network, with routes and schedules intended to make the bus appealing to more people. Jarrett Walker, who blogs at Human Transit, consulted on the project, and today he shares his take on the early ridership numbers. Weekend ridership is already up significantly — that makes sense because one of […]

This week there’s a huge gathering in Dallas for the annual Railvolution conference. One of the hot topics for all those people trying to build walkable places: parking requirements. At one session, University of Utah professor and eminent urban researcher Reid Ewing spoke alongside a developer about the downsides of being forced to build too much parking — even right next […]

What do you call a place where you can walk once you get there, but most people arrive in a car? Atlanta has plenty of these places, which Darin Givens at ATL Urbanist calls “drive-to urbanism.” Givens interviewed Atlanta planning commissioner Tim Keane on the subject. Here’s what Keane had to say about how Atlanta can get beyond “drive-to urbanism.” […]

When a House of Representatives committee passed a six-year transportation bill last Thursday, it marked a milestone in Washington’s efforts to pass a long term transportation bill at long last. Problem is, the bill stinks. Previous House transportation bills were non-starters because they blatantly attacked funding for transit. The extreme right-wing of the Republican Party is still trying to do that, but for the […]

A provision in the House GOP’s new transportation bill threatens to upend how transit agencies fund major capital projects, delaying or killing efforts to expand and maintain rail and bus networks. The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRR), released Tuesday and marked up in committee yesterday, would change funding rules for the three federal programs […]

In June, newly elected Maryland Governor Larry Hogan decided to kill plans for the Red Line light rail project planned for Baltimore, calling it a “wasteful boondoggle.” Baltimore had already spent $230 million planning the 14-mile line. The city also had secured a $900 million in competitive federal funding for the $2.9 billion project and was […]

Chouteau Avenue in St. Louis is finally getting a bike lane that’s been promised since 2009. But the finished product falls far short of what it could be, writes Alex Ihnen at NextSTL. The flaws in the Chouteau redesign say a lot about the city’s haphazard approach to bike planning, Ihnen says: It appears to be city […]