Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
A Bike Bell That Maps Where Cyclists Feel Unsafe and Pings the Mayor
| | No Comments
A user-generated map of where people felt unsafe biking in London, via Hövding
London cyclists who encounter stressful, dangerous conditions can crowdsource a map of weaknesses in the city’s bike network by simply tapping button on their handlebars. Brandon G. Donnelly at Architect This City has more:
Hövding — a Swedish company best known for its radical airbag cycling helmets (definitely check these out) — is currently [...]
Walkable Cities Are More Affordable Than You Think
| | No Comments
People living in walkable cities may have high housing costs, but they also tend to have low transportation costs and better access to jobs, according to a new study from Smart Growth America [PDF].
The most walkable metro areas have better job access and lower transportation costs, lightening the burden of high housing costs. Table: Smart Growth America
SGA ranked the [...]
KC Conspiracy Theorists: Walkable Development Will “Devastate” Auto Giants
| | No Comments
Now that Kansas City has its streetcar up and running, the city is taking the logical step of updating its zoning code to allow for walkable development along the transit route. And according to some local Agenda 21 believers, anyone who works for the automotive industry should be very afraid.
First they build up to the sidewalk, then [...]
More Evidence Bike Lanes Can Be More Efficient Than Car Lanes
| | No Comments
Contrary to all those cranky newspaper columns about how every last inch of asphalt needs to be allocated to motor vehicles, bike lanes can actually move more people with less street space than general traffic lanes.
Here’s a good example from Toronto. Biking Toronto reports that while bike lanes take up just 19 percent of College Street, cyclists now account for nearly [...]
A Better Way to Track How Well Transit Performs
| | No Comments
“Excess wait time” — or how long riders have to wait beyond the scheduled time between buses — captures the inconvenience of unreliable transit better than on-time performance metrics that many agencies prefer to use. Graphic: NYC Bus Data API
When you’re riding the bus or the train, an unexpected delay is the last thing you need. If transit agencies [...]
After Big Push From Mayors, TIGER in Line For Slight Funding Boost
| | No Comments
There’s good news out of the Senate committee responsible for doling out transportation funds.
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail was funded in part with a TIGER grant. Photo: Walk Indianapolis
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee okayed a small increase in TIGER funding, according to Stephen Lee Davis at Transportation for America. TIGER is the program that allows local governments [...]
Will Cleveland Finally Get Serious About Confronting Sprawl?
| | No Comments
Northeast Ohio has been sprawling outward without adding population. The result is vacancy in urban areas. Map: NEOSCC (Click to enlarge.)
The Cleveland region has been struggling with sprawl for a long time.
Since the 1970s, the regional population has shrunk while housing and jobs have spread outward — a combination that has devastated urban areas in particular.
Transportation policy is a big part [...]
Fake Jaywalking Tickets for Kids: A Sad Reflection of Our Awful Streets
| | No Comments
Who is responsible for the safety of kids on the street?
Street safety is your responsibility, kids. Get used to the idea of paying a fine for walking! Photo: Bike Louisville
In Louisville, where the pedestrian fatality rate is higher than average, a city agency called Bike Louisville will be using grant funds on a safety education program that [...]
The Fight for Better Access to Jobs in Detroit and Milwaukee, Using Buses
| | No Comments
Low-income residents of Detroit and Milwaukee face formidable obstacles to job access. These two Rust Belt regions are consistently ranked among the most segregated in the country, and neither has a good transit system.
Bus riders in Detroit. Photo: Ditched By DDOT
In both regions, the places that have been growing and adding jobs fastest have been been overwhelmingly sprawling, suburban areas inaccessible to people without [...]
Associated Press Cautions Journalists That Crashes Aren’t Always “Accidents”
| | No Comments
When negligence is claimed or proven, avoid accident, which can be read as exonerating the person responsible. #ACES2016
— AP Stylebook (@APStylebook) April 2, 2016
The Associated Press has tweaked its guidance for journalists about when to call traffic collisions “accidents.”
Street safety advocates, spearheaded by New York City’s Transportation Alternatives, have been pushing police and media organizations to drop the term “accident” [...]
If You’re Requiring Parking by Transit Stations, You’re Doing It Wrong
| | No Comments
The city of Waterloo, Ontario, is in the process of building a new 12-mile light rail line called Ion Rapid Transit. Now the most pressing question is how to make it a success.
And so is more mandatory parking! Image: Tritag.ca
Mike Boos at TriTag says the transit line should have no trouble meeting ridership forecasts, with bus routes along the corridor [...]
Retired Fire Chief: Make American Firetrucks Fit City Streets, Not Vice Versa
| | No Comments
It’s a sad irony that fire departments, while essential to public safety, are often a major obstacle to safer streets in American cities.
A smaller European fire truck (top) and an oversized American one (bottom). Photos: FireHouse.com
When cities try to redesign streets to reduce traffic injuries and get drivers to travel at safer speeds, the local fire department often steps in to prevent changes that [...]