Tanya Snyder
Tanya became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica Radios Washington bureau and for public radio stations around the country. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Recent Posts
Celebrate Bike to Work Week, No Matter What You Weigh
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Happy Bike to Work Week, everybody! It’s a great time to give a gentle nudge to someone who you think would benefit from biking. In that vein, personal trainer and fitness coach Stephanie Averkamp of San Diego posted this infographic to her personal health website. She says she especially hopes to convince overweight and obese people to […]
How Green Is Grocery Delivery in Cities?
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In a recent study out of Seattle, researchers Erica Wygonik and Anne Goodchild found that having groceries delivered by truck can cut mileage by up to 85 or 95 percent compared to driving a car. “It’s like a bus for groceries,” Goodchild told NPR. “Overwhelmingly, it’s more efficient to be sharing a vehicle, even if it’s a little larger.” […]
Commuter Idyll Winner Jake Williams Tells His Dramatic Story of Salvation
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When we saw that Washington’s news-traffic-weather radio station, WTOP, was holding a “Commuter Idle” contest for the worst commute in the DC area — and rewarding it with $1,000 in gas money — we couldn’t resist. We went looking for the best “Commuter Idyll” — the trips to work that made people happy, got them fresh […]
If You Pay Sales Tax at Amazon.com, Your Transit System Could Improve
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A bill moving through Congress could help struggling transit systems around the country. The Senate approved the Marketplace Fairness Act on Monday, a bill that would impose sales taxes on most items sold online to residents of the 45 states (and the District of Columbia) where stores charge sales tax. PubliCola at SeattleMet highlighted the benefit […]
Dreamy Routines: Some of Our Readers’ Best “Commuter Idylls”
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Some of you have some fabulous commutes. Rather than watch the stress-filled minutes and hours tick by stuck in traffic, you go outside, get exercise, and connect with your community. I’ve had the pleasure of reading many of your commuter tales over the last few days, since we launched our Commuter Idyll contest. It’s our […]
There Goes the Neighborhood: Why Homeownership Drags Down Employment
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If your idea of the American dream is to spend your mornings and evenings alone in an idling car surrounded on all sides by other lonely people in other idling cars, by all means, buy a house. A new paper [PDF] from the Peterson Institute for International Economics finds a strong link between homeownership and […]
Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
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For many troops who have served in U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combat is just one of many dangers they face. Upon returning home, they have higher rates of suicide, homelessness, and mental illness. Now we can add another threat to the list: Car crashes. The Washington Post published an astonishing article yesterday about the […]
NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
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Deaths from motor vehicle crashes rose 5.3 percent in 2012, according to new numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [PDF]. It’s the first time since 2005 that fatalities have gone up. Vehicle miles traveled only rose 0.3 percent last year. The winter was especially nasty, with 12.6 percent more deaths than the previous winter. […]
Sustainability Busts Out of Its Cubicle, Permeates DOT, HUD, and EPA
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The Partnership for Sustainable Communities has had a rough couple of years. The program got zeroed out of the 2012 budget, and the 2013 budget is just a carbon copy of 2012. But they’re looking to make a comeback. The three-agency partnership celebrates its fourth anniversary in June. In those four years, the collaborative effort […]
Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”
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Before I became your editor here at Streetsblog Capitol Hill, I was a reporter for WTOP, the DC area’s “most-listened-to” radio station. Its traffic reports “on the 8s” helped feed my ire toward auto-centrism – they wasted one out of every 10 minutes of airtime on an unintelligible litany of route numbers and exits. Meanwhile, […]
A Golden Opportunity for Congress to Avoid the Transportation “Fiscal Cliff”
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MAP-21 expires in a year and five months. When it does, if lawmakers haven’t already found a solution to the “transportation fiscal cliff,” they’ll have to do one of three things, according to a report issued last week by the Congressional Budget Office [PDF]: Transfer $14 billion more in general funds Raise the gas tax […]
Support Streetsblog, Get a Chance to Win a Folding Bike
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No one can deny the tides are turning when it comes to how people in this country get around. While the majority still drive everywhere, they number fewer every day, with more people joining the ranks of the straphangers, bicyclists, and walkers. This country is waking up to what we can gain by investing in […]