Trump’s Pick for U.S. DOT Is GOP Insider Elaine Chao
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Chao was secretary of labor under George W. Bush and is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. An official announcement is expected shortly.
Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Government Organizations
Why Do We Put the Onus for Traffic Safety on Kids?
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.@NTSB Vice Chairman: Practice safe walking behavior. Stay alert, walk on sidewalks, cross at crosswalks. #NationalWalkToSchoolDaypic.twitter.com/TWRChfTdcZ — NTSB (@NTSB) October 5, 2016 It’s Walk-to-School Day, a day when children all over the country get to enjoy the simple experience of traveling somewhere using their own power. It makes me happy because I love seeing the pictures of kids […]
The Feds’ Tentative Steps to Legalize Mixed-Use Housing Don’t Go Far Enough
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For a long time, apartment buildings with ground-floor retail were the building blocks of America’s cities and towns. Combining housing and commercial uses is also essential for walkability and affordability, enabling people to travel shorter distances for their daily routines and get around without driving. But in most of the country today, it’s practically impossible to build or […]
Will US DOT’s Self-Driving Car Rules Make Streets Safe for Walking and Biking?
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This week, U.S. DOT released guidelines for self-driving cars, a significant step as regulators prepare for companies to bring this new technology to market. Autonomous vehicles raise all sorts of questions about urban transportation systems. It’s up to advocates to ensure that the technology helps accomplish broader goals like safer streets and more efficient use of urban space, […]
FHWA’s New Goal: Eliminating Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths in America
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The Federal Highway Administration wants to eliminate pedestrian and cyclist fatalities “in the next 20 to 30 years.” In a new strategic plan [PDF], the agency calls for reducing serious injuries and deaths 80 percent in the next 15 years, which would be an intermediate goal on the way to zero. FHWA also calls for boosting the share of […]
Engineers to U.S. DOT: Transportation Is About More Than Moving Cars
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A trade group representing the transportation engineering profession thinks it’s high time for American policy makers to stop focusing so much on moving single-occupancy vehicles. U.S. DOT is currently deciding how it will assess the performance of state DOTs. Will it continue business as usual and equate success with moving huge numbers of cars? That’s […]