Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Highway Expansion

Atlanta’s Big Moment

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 16, 2012 | 7 Comments

There’s a lot at stake for metro Atlanta on July 31. That day, voters will go to the polls to decide the fate of a proposed one percent sales tax that promises some $8 billion in transportation funding, to be split relatively evenly between transit and road projects over 10 counties. If it fails, experts […]

Report: Traffic Studies Systematically Overstate Benefits of Road Projects

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 6, 2012 | 7 Comments

Nearly every time a new road is built, traffic volume increases beyond the predictions of the traffic studies. And nearly every time, transportation planners are surprised. The explanation is a wonky little phenomenon called “induced demand.” Essentially, if you widen roads to reduce congestion, people who were avoiding the road because of congestion will find […]

A New Bill Passes, But America’s Transpo Policy Stays Stuck in 20th Century

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 29, 2012 | 11 Comments

The House of Representatives approved the transportation bill conference report this afternoon by a vote of 373 to 52. [UPDATE 4:00 PM: The Senate has also approved the bill, 74-19.] This is a bill that’s been called “a death blow to mass transit” by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “a step backwards for America’s transportation system” […]

Transpo Bill Rumor: DeFazio Says Conference Committee ‘Gutted’ Bike/Ped

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 27, 2012 | No Comments

Here’s the latest transpo bill news that has filtered through the tight little seams in the armor around the conference committee. First of all, the House voted last night on the two motions to instruct we mentioned last week: Rep. Diane Black’s criminally bad idea to cancel out important incentives for states to enact distracted […]

Paved With Good Intentions

By Charles Marohn | Apr 30, 2012 | No Comments

Cross-posted from Strong Towns blog. How can a country that is so wealthy be in such enormous debt? How can a country that can build such marvelous transportation systems not find the money to sustain them? How can a people that enjoyed decades of unrivaled economic hegemony — staggering levels of growth beyond anything seen […]

What Libertarians Talk About When They Talk About Transportation Reform

By Ben Goldman | Apr 24, 2012 | 4 Comments

There’s more than one way to approach transportation reform. One is to believe that an ideal transportation policy promotes the use of modes that are environmentally sustainable and which foster livable cities, while those that perpetuate overdependence on automobiles do neither. Then there is another camp, which approaches transportation from a micro, rather than macro, […]

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