Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Modernizing How People Pay to Park in Downtown DC
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Washington, DC, is poised for big improvements to its performance parking program. Michael Perkins at Greater Greater Washington reports that ParkDC is set to expand “on some of downtown’s most in-demand blocks” in Gallery Place. By resetting meter prices every few months based on the rate of occupied curbside parking spaces, the new ParkDC zone could match […]
Halloween: A Lot Less Scary If Drivers and Roads Were Safer
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ICYMI: We’re helping children be seen on #Halloween by lending them reflective vests! Details: http://t.co/FmEPHvc43G pic.twitter.com/AggiFilfDn — MD State Highway Adm (@MDSHA) October 22, 2014 Halloween is fun because we get to be afraid of things that we know aren’t really scary. But for little trick or treaters in the United States, the danger posed […]
Sources: Alta Buyout a Done Deal; New York Citi Bike Fleet to Double
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The buyout of Alta Bicycle Share rumored since July is finally a done deal. Alta — which operates New York’s Citi Bike, Washington, DC’s Capital Bikeshare, Chicago’s Divvy, and several other cities’ systems — will be purchased by REQX Ventures, an affiliate of the Related Companies and its Equinox unit. The injection of capital from REQX is […]
When Highways Are Barriers to Opportunity
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Looking at a map of commute times, Patrick Kennedy at Walkable Dallas-Fort Worth finds that people who live in census tracts with some of that region’s lowest household incomes spend the most time traveling to and from work. Many commutes are more than an hour each way. Kennedy says this is what happens when road-building guides […]
How to Improve 3-Foot Passing Laws
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After a couple of vetoes by Governor Jerry Brown, California finally has a 3-foot passing law. As of June, 24 states plus the District of Columbia have such a law, which requires drivers to give cyclists a minimum buffer of 3 feet when passing from behind. With California’s law in effect as of today, Rick Bernardi […]
With Permit Parking, John Cranley Could Help Cincinnati Despite Himself
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Chalk this one up as a worthwhile proposal offered in bad faith. Streetsblog readers may remember Mayor John Cranley as the pol who wasted a ton of taxpayer money trying to kill the Cincinnati streetcar. But lately Cranley has come out as a would-be parking reformer, proposing a $300 annual fee for on-street parking in […]
Lagos Bus Rapid Transit Handles 25 Percent of All Commuters
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Six years after Lagos, Nigeria, launched the first Bus Rapid Transit program in all of Africa, the system handles a whopping 25 percent of all commutes and plays a key role in the city’s ongoing effort to reduce stifling vehicle congestion. The average Lagos commuter spends over three hours in traffic each day, writes the […]
Two Visions for a Closed DC Freeway, But Only One Shows Any Vision
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David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington reports that city traffic engineers and city planners have very different ideas on what to do with a closed freeway segment in southeast DC. The District Department of Transportation came up with a range of proposals for the Southeast Freeway between the 11th Street Bridge and the Barney Circle neighborhood. […]
It’s OK to Build Transit-Oriented Development Before Transit
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Which should come first: transit or transit-oriented development? Streetsblog San Francisco reported Monday that residents of Mountain View, California, are trying to figure out how to accommodate thousands of tech employees without overwhelming local transportation infrastructure. One-fourth of all workers in Mountain View travel to and from an office district that houses Google, LinkedIn, and […]
A (Quiet) Bike Renaissance in Rockville, Maryland
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The DC suburb of Rockville, Maryland, is quietly becoming a bike-friendly city. Greater Greater Washington reports that Rockville advocates and the city have worked together for the last 15 years to expand bike infrastructure. The result: a 68-mile bike network, including 34 miles of separated bikeways, 33 miles of shared lanes, and a multi-use path […]
Who Pays for “Free” Park-and-Ride Parking?
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Park-and-ride lots, writes Matt Steele at Streets.mn, are the “darling infrastructure of the transit planning profession.” In exchange for providing a parking spot at no charge to suburban commuters, says Steele, transit systems can increase ridership. But “free” suburban parking isn’t such a sweet deal for everyone. Steele writes that a Metro Transit park-and-ride expansion […]
Nissan to Millennials: If You Really Want to Get Around, Don’t Drive
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This Nissan ad, in heavy rotation during the NFL playoffs, smacks of 21st century carmaker desperation. In “Commute,” a young motorist, stuck with colleagues in city traffic and watching cyclists pass her by, speeds onto a conveniently located ramp and launches her Nissan Rogue on top of a passing train. Now they can get where […]