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
Streetsblog Wishes You a Big Red Bicycle Holiday
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We’re getting ready to enjoy a holiday staycation filled with cookie parties, home projects, and baby presents with packaging that’s way more fun than the gift itself. We wish you, dear reader, the happiest of holidays and most auspicious of new years. Before checking out for the holidays, tune in tomorrow morning for the annual […]
In Homage to Daniel Inouye, Feds Commit to Funding Honolulu Transit
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Senate titan Daniel Inouye passed away Monday at 88. The Hawaii senator was the longest-serving member in the chamber at the time he died. As a fitting tribute, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood yesterday signed a full funding grant agreement with Inouye’s widow at his side, committing the federal government to $1.55 billion in transit assistance. The […]
What Do Anti-Density NIMBYs and Road-Wideners Have in Common?
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Matt Yglesias made an excellent point about NIMBYs over at Slate yesterday. Writing about opposition to multifamily residential construction in the tony neighborhood near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, Yglesias wondered how much value residents really place on keeping the area a “single-family residential community.” Just because there’s value in something doesn’t mean people are willing to […]
Do Seniors Want the Livability Improvements AARP Wants For Them?
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Oahu, Hawaii should be the ideal place to walk for transportation, but it has the nation’s highest pedestrian fatality rate for senior citizens – more than twice the next-highest state. So the state enacted a Complete Streets policy in 2009, seeking to “reasonably accommodate” everyone — “pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, motorists, and persons of all […]
Walk Score Ranks the Bikeability of Every Address in 36 Cities
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Walk Score came out with its bikeability rankings in the spring, but they were only at the citywide level. If you wanted to plug in your address and come up with a custom rating for your own address, like you can with Walk Score, the system wasn’t quite ready. That all changes today. Using an […]
Blumenauer: Let’s Stop Hiding in Fear of a Mileage Fee
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In June, the House of Representatives voted to ban U.S. DOT from even studying the viability of switching from the gas tax to a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee. But the tide may be turning: The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Chip Cravaack, has been ousted from Congress, the amendment itself is on the skids, and a new […]
New Black Box Rule Isn’t Enough to Hold Drivers Accountable For Ped Crashes
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Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a new rule requiring automakers to install event data recorders, known as EDRs or black boxes, in all light passenger vehicles. While the rule would expand the number of vehicles equipped to record critical information in the moments preceding a crash, that alone won’t aid […]
Ford Tries to Sell More Cars By Looking to a Future With Fewer Cars
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Ford has spent the last few years fretting about how to reach out to Gen Y. The car company made news earlier this year when it re-designed its 2015 Mustang to appeal to buyers born between 1980 and 1999. (Apparently Gen Y just screams “shark-nosed grille and round headlights” to Ford.) Last year, Ford turned to […]
Pedestrian Deaths on Railroad Tracks: The Failure of Design
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In 2006, 14-year old Kristen Bowen was killed on the train tracks near her house in the Chicago suburb of Villa Park. She was using a well-worn shortcut across the tracks that cut her residential neighborhood off from the school and the park they used. Four years after Kristen’s death, her twin sister committed suicide by […]
Give to Streetsblog and Streetfilms and You Could Win a New Bike
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It’s that time of year again, readers: tinsel, latkes, long lines, good cheer — and our earnest hope that your spirit of generosity will inspire you to donate to Streetsblog. And if generosity doesn’t do it, maybe self-interest will: thanks to our friends at New York’s Bicycle Habitat, everyone who gives $50 or more online will […]
Seven Jiu-Jitsu Moves for Advocates to Use MAP-21 to Their Own Advantage
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OK, truth: Raise your hand if you find federal transportation legislation intimidating and incomprehensible. I thought so. Me too. The problem, as you know, is that it’s enormously important that advocates not only understand the new transportation law, MAP-21, but that they understand it in granular detail so they can find the small opportunities buried […]
Getting Hosed on a Hybrid
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Hybrid drivers: Nice try, but your wheels aren’t really saving the planet. Consumer Reports announced Thursday that the mileage ratings on Ford’s hybrid models were inflated. Instead of getting “47 city/47 highway/47 combined mpg” as advertised, the Fusion sedan gets 35/41/39 and the new C-Max wagon gets 35/38/37. That’s a pretty big difference — far bigger than […]