Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Washington state

The red areas mark close calls between drivers and pedestrians. Image via City of Bellevue

Can Algorithms Design Safer Intersections?

By Stephen Miller | | 5 Comments
Cities and tech firms are deploying new technology to gauge risks at dangerous intersections. These sensors, cameras, and machine-learning algorithms are promising, especially when it comes to measuring close calls that don't result in crashes - but cities are still figuring out how they can use this information. In the meantime, there's no reason to wait on designing safe streets.

Parking Madness: Federal Way vs. Montreal

By Angie Schmitt | | 24 Comments
We’re just getting started with Parking Madness 2016 — our annual hunt for North America’s worst parking craters. So far, Washington, D.C., and Rutland, Vermont, have advanced to the second round. Today’s matchup pits the Seattle suburb of Federal Way against the pride of Quebec — Montreal. It’s the second Canadian parking crater in this year’s competition, reminding us that the United […]

Highway Boondoggles: Washington’s Puget Sound Gateway Project

By John Olivieri and Jeff Inglis | | 1 Comment
In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2, U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group profile the most wasteful highway projects that state DOTs are building. Today we look at a classic — Washington’s $3 billion “Puget Sound Gateway Project.” Washington plans to spend billions on the Puget Sound Gateway project to “relieve congestion,” but if anything the project will increase it. […]

House Dems: We Won’t Support a Transpo Bill That Cuts Bike/Ped Funding

By Angie Schmitt | | 1 Comment
House Democrats won’t stand for any cuts to federal funding for walking and biking infrastructure. That was the gist of a letter signed by every Democratic member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week. Groups aligned with the Koch brothers and their organization Americans for Prosperity have pushed to eliminate all federal funds for walking, biking, and […]

Tacoma Vows to Prosecute Rogue Crosswalk Painters

By Angie Schmitt | | 12 Comments
  A group calling themselves “Citizens for a Safer Tacoma” has painted five crosswalks around the city, in hopes of pressing officials to take pedestrian safety more seriously. The city of Tacoma, meanwhile, has reacted defensively, threatening to prosecute the group, according to King 5 News. Kurtis Kingsolver, interim public works director, complained to the television […]
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