Today on the Streetsblog Network, we’re thinking about the reinvention of cars. At his blog The Bellows, Ryan Avent has written a two-part piece about how best to enable innovation in car design. His starting point is a review in The American Prospect of a new book called Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for […]

Yesterday on the Streetsblog Network, member blog Portlandize published a great post summarizing the economic benefits of better cycling infrastructure. The piece serves as a response to those who might have their doubts about Portland’s ambitious new Bicycle Plan for 2030. Just passed unanimously by the City Council, the plan will spend $600 million over […]

A couple of months ago, we wrote about Clevelanders protesting a $450 million rebuilding of the city’s Innerbelt Bridge that fails to include bike and pedestrian access. Since then, the Ohio Department of Transportation has dug in its heels, saying that there is no time to make any amendments to the environmental impact statement on […]

As we noted the other day, First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a multifaceted initiative to reduce child obesity in the United States called Let’s Move. It’s a campaign that emphasizes the ways in which getting children up and active can help to improve their health for a lifetime. The Let’s Move agenda focuses on […]

We got an e-mail late last night from Kevin Buchanan, who runs the Fort Worthology blog down in Fort Worth, Texas, with some very good news for that city’s streets. Here’s what Kevin had to report: Supporters of Fort Worth’s new bike plan packed city council chambers last night. (Photo: Kevin Buchanan) [A]fter a huge […]

We turn to the Streetsblog Network for a little inspiration this morning, courtesy of Robin Chase — author of the blog Network Musings and former CEO of Zipcar. Chase shares a story from a friend in India, Vinay Jayaswal, who believes that meaningful change on the most overwhelming issues can, and must, begin with the […]

Today on the Streetsblog Network, Connecticut Smart Growth asks for a reconsideration of the cul-de-sac. As the post notes, a couple of important studies in recent years have highlighted how this iconic type of suburban development causes unsafe and costly traffic problems. Now governments in several parts of the country are discouraging such dead-end developments: […]

Today on the Streetsblog Network, a post from Aaron Renn on New Geography about the anti-urban bias in transportation spending. Renn points out that when it comes to the amount of taxes they contribute and the amount of funds they get back from the government, the nation’s cities all too often get the short end […]

Cities and counties across the country are struggling with the funding of their transit systems in these hard times. In New York City, the payroll tax solution touted in Albany last year has failed to meet projections. In Lorain County, Ohio, the rejection of a sales tax by voters resulted in crippling cutbacks to that […]

This morning on the Streetsblog Network, Cap’n Transit is talking about setting budget priorities in lean times. Maintaining efficient, low-cost transit, he argues, should take precedence over keeping bridges toll-free — especially if there’s no political will to raise taxes: In tough times, transit should come first. (Photo: Kevin H. via Flickr) If your personal […]

The other day, we wrote a post in hopes of starting a conversation about the way certain groups of people who ride bicycles — notably, immigrants who ride to work and for work — tend to get overlooked by bicycle advocacy groups and planners. The post (which grew out of an item by Streetsblog Network […]

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we’ve got a post from M-Bike.org weighing in on a new crosswalk treatment in a Michigan town: Can this crosswalk penetrate a driver’s consciousness? (Photo: R.D. Jones) Some fancy solar-powered crosswalk signs (the “Enhancer”), with lights, flashing beacons, and a pleasant spoken instructions have recently been installed in Lyon Township […]