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After columnist George Will went after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's new initiatives, LaHood comes back with a zinger delivered at the National Press Club: “We have to create opportunities for people who want to ride a bike or walk or take a streetcar,” he said. “The only person that I’ve… more
I love everything about this story in New York Magazine on Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City's Transportation commissioner, who is transforming big chunks of Broadway into pedestrian spaces. Borrowing ideas from Copenhagen and cities around the world, Sadik-Khan has a vision of turning the great diagonal into a linear… more
Residents of Vauban, Germany, "are suburban pioneers, going where few soccer moms or commuting executives have ever gone before: they have given up their cars." Cars are forbidden on most of Vauban's streets, and houses cannot have driveways or garages.
Speech by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to ULI today in Atlanta was captured by Kaid Benfield in his blog at NRDC. Some excerpts:
"Let's be honest--HUD has become the Department of Subsidized Housing, and that must change. We've got to put the "UD" (urban development) back in HUD. At the… more
A dinner arranged by philanthropist Eric Avner and hosted by Mayor Mark Mallory in Cincininnati this week was our first chance to stage a local discussion on the Green Dividend. Cincinnati unveiled its comprehensive climate strategy almost a year ago, and the mayor and his staff are taking… more
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood held a press conference today to announce a new U.S. push to transform travel in America, creating high-speed rail lines from city to city, reducing dependence on cars and planes and spurring economic development.
The President laid… more
Welcome to the Fast Lane. That is, welcome to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's blog.
Today, he is defending high speed rail. (I interviewed Rick Harnish, head of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association today for Smart City.) But LaHood is pushing hard for livable communities. Here are excerpts from… more
NYT today documents stimulus money to states being used to encourage sprawl with shovel ready road projects. Although President Obama's Administration opposes sprawl (and he has so stated as recently as last month), "quite a few" states are using their stimulus money "to build new and wider roads that… more
As we consider the shovel ready road and bridge projects of the stimulus package, consider this important analysis by our colleague Joe Cortright of the impact modest declines in auto travel have on congestion. And how that could save us big, big money...
Last year, the US made more… more
Bruce Katz of Brookings (on leave to HUD) is speaking now at the NYU Furman Center's Housing Policy Conference. What does it mean for a national government to create an Office of Urban Policy? Bruce says it is a recognition that place matters. Cities and metro areas are key to… more
Transportation for America, a national coalition of organizations seeking to align national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues including economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development, is asking supporters to contact their House representatives in support of the amendment offered by U.S.… more
Find them here, courtesy of Transportation for America.
moreFrom Springwise...
Launched late last month, Connect by Hertz now offers car sharing in London, Paris and New York City. In New York, members can choose from among three plans, depending on how often they drive. All three give consumers 180 free miles per day and free gas;… more
Bob Yaro, who continues to lead on good regional planning from his post as head of New York's Regional Plan Association, has prepared a statement to the new administration on the economic stimulus plan that outlines a five step program for infrastructure investment as part of the America 2050 Coalition:
… moreCongress for the New Urbanism CEO John Norquist warns the President-elect on the pitfalls of moving without consideration on the portion of the economic stimulus package calling for new roads and bridges. He writes:
With six weeks to go before he moves into the White House, Barack Obama is… more
There are some big names on the list, including former Sec. of Transportation Norman Mineta and Virginia Gov. Tim Kane. One pleasant surprise? There's a lot of talk about rail. Deron Lovaas, the Federal Transportation Policy Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, urges: "Rail mileage should double so that… more
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom released the following letter today to congressional leadership. The mayors are advocating for Congress not to reallocate funds intended for advanced transportation technology innovation and identify a different mechanism to finance efforts to improve the viability of the American… more
Ryan Avent (if you're not reading him you should be) celebrates the new excitement about infrastructure. He reports for Grist, "Last week, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) introduced the High-Speed Rail for America Act, a bill that would authorize $23 billion in bond sales… more
Our colleague Joe Cortright sent us the photo below from an above the fold story in the Living section of the Oregonian about different kinds of bike accesories for hauling kids and cargo.
Photo by
Read the… more
Take a look at Pittsburgh's Citiwiki that invites citizens to offer their own ideas to develop an intelligent, easy-to-use transportation system that works for people of every stripe?
The goal of the Wiki is to harness the considerable intellectual firepower of the Pittsburgh region's thoughtful citizenry to help transform… more
That will be an important sign of whether bus rapid transit, the value-priced alternative to light rail, actually works, according to Alan Hoffman, a San Diego-based transit consultant. It may not be politically correct to say so out loud, he said , "but it's what I call the 'AYF Factor.'… more
Newly hired president of Portland State University Wim Wiewel will join the throngs of downtown bike commuters tomorrow when he reports for his first day on the job. Wiewel will join Commissioner (and Mayor-elect) Sam Adams on the ride and a small reception will follow in the South Park Blocks.
… moreIf you haven't discovered Ryan Avant's blog, you should. Here's a recent gem:
"The two big challenges for fighting poverty are: 1) reducing, as much as possible, geographic segregation of socioeconomic groups, and 2) the tendency to choose affordability over proximity among the poor, which significantly affects expected income.… more
Oil prices are, indeed, causing panic. And as Lee Raymond, the former head of Exxon told The NY Times, "Once you panic, it is way too late." He characterizes our policy to date as a "no-action policy."
Nearly 70 percent of the 21 million barrels of oil Americans consume… more