Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Seattle Campaign to #GivePedsTheGreen Would Do Away With “Beg Buttons”
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A petition in Seattle is calling on the city to do away with "beg buttons" and automatically give pedestrians a walk signal at every traffic light in its "urban villages" -- areas that are walkable and transit-oriented. While pressing a button may seem like a small imposition, it's not that simple.
Transit Advocates Launch Call to Action Against Disastrous Trump Budget
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Dozens of transit projects across the nation -- as well as walking and biking projects that count on funds from the TIGER program -- are under threat unless Congress scraps the hardline budget outline proposed by the White House. Transportation for America is urging people to contact their representatives and oppose the cuts.
Trump’s Budget Takes an Axe to Transit
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The Trump administration has released its budget blueprint, and it's a bloodbath for everything that's not defense spending. In keeping with the budget's general hostility to cities, transit would be hit especially hard.
When Will America’s Street Design Bible Enter the 21st Century?
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Last year, the number of people killed on U.S. roads surged back above 40,000. But you don't see much urgency on the part of the transportation engineering establishment to change a failing street design paradigm. So we checked in with one of the engineers in charge of America's street design bible.
Columbus May Offer Free Transit Passes to All Downtown Workers
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For the last year and a half, Columbus's Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District has been piloting a free transit pass program for 844 downtown workers. The share of workers in the program who commute via transit increased from 6 percent to 12 percent, and now it might be expanded to all 40,000 workers downtown.
It’s Parking Madness Time — Send Us Your Parking Disasters!
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It's March and that means it's Parking Madness season at Streetsblog. Today we're launching our fifth annual tournament in search of North America's worst parking blight, and we're switching things up a little.
Win Back Transit Riders By Speeding Up Bus Boarding
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One surefire way for U.S. transit agencies to improve bus service is to streamline the boarding process by enabling riders to get on at any door. In a new report, NACTO makes the case for all-door boarding and looks at how American transit agencies are moving forward on implementation.
Transit Ridership Falling Everywhere — But Not in Cities With Redesigned Bus Networks
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Transit ridership decreased in almost every major American city last year. But there were two notable exceptions -- Seattle and Houston. Those two outliers share one thing in common: In addition to expanding light rail, they're both redesigning their bus networks.
Bus Riders Prevail: Transit Will Return to Cleveland’s Public Square
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After booting buses out of Public Square as part of a $50 million redesign, Mayor Frank Jackson now says the city is preparing to reopen the space to buses in March. That would end a seven-month closure that led to systemwide bus delays and gained national notoriety as a case study of how local governments mistreat bus riders.
Downtown Seattle Added 45,000 Jobs and Hardly Any Car Commuters
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Transforming from a car city to a transit city is no easy task. Just ask Denver and Los Angeles, which have spent billions to build rail systems but struggled to reduce solo car commuting rates. But Seattle shows it can be done: The share of downtown commuters who drive alone dropped from 35 percent in 2010 to 30 percent last year.
It’s Not Just Trump: House GOP Members Ramp Up Road-Building Campaign
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Watch out: The leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is making a push for an infrastructure spending spree, even though the current federal transportation funding law doesn't expire for several years. Advocates will have to guard against a new road-building binge.
Bicycling Education in the United States Needs an Update
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Thousands of people in North America are exposed to rules of thumb in cycling training courses each year. But how good is the advice?