Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Beyond Bike to Work Day: How to Encourage the Car-Free Commuting Habit
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Longer-term encouragement can help shift car commuters to bike commuters.
What Mister Rogers Can Teach Us About Cities and NIMBYism
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If you spend much time at community meetings, or you’re a Leslie Knope fan, you know that public forums are often where open-mindedness goes to die. Bill Lindeke of Twin City Sidewalks has been thinking about the contrast between urban NIMBYism and the ideals espoused by Fred Rogers, host of the legendary Pittsburgh-based public television show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” […]
Attention Cities: To Encourage Walking, Don’t Overlook the Basics
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When it comes to making it easier and safer for people to get around on foot, is your city covering the basics? If you live in the U.S., odds are the answer is “Not by a long shot.” Tim Kovach writes that his hometown, Cleveland, is getting good press for a zoning update intended to make parts of […]
Portland’s Bike-Share System Will Be an Interesting One to Watch
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Next week, leaders in Portland will decide whether to move forward with a long-awaited bike-share system. Assuming it proceeds, Portland’s bike-share is going to be an unusual one. Michael Andersen of BikePortland has everything you need to know in a series of posts on the proposed system (check them all out here). He reports that it would launch next summer with 600 bikes […]
How the Baltimore Red Line Could Rise Again
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Today on the Network, Gerald Neily at Baltimore InnerSpace has the back story on the ill-fated Red Line, the rail project axed by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Neily writes that the Red Line’s roots date to the 1960s, “when a 1.5 mile swath of West Baltimore was condemned and quickly destroyed for what is now the […]
How Baltimore Could Improve Rail After Larry Hogan’s Red Line Debacle
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Maryland Governor Larry Hogan killed Baltimore’s long-awaited Red Line so he could build a highway to the beach, but sitting on the shelf is another plan to augment rail service in the city. Writing for Greater Greater Washington, Jeff La Noue says the proposal includes three new infill stations on the MARC Penn Line commuter rail: one […]
Biking the Last Mile in Suburban Copenhagen
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Tooling around on Google, Dan Malouff at Greater Greater Washington stumbled on the above image from suburban Copenhagen. What’s right with this picture? Note the (a) bike parking lot at the Friheden Street transit station, just across the (b) sidewalk from the (c) bike lane. Writes Malouff: One of the most important uses for bicycles […]
What’s the Actual Cost of Amtrak’s Trans-Hudson Gateway Project?
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Five years after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spiked the ARC transit tunnel to redirect money to roads, politicians are finally discussing how to go about upgrading rail capacity between Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, currently limited to a pair of century-old tunnels under the Hudson River. But just about every announcement related to the proposed Gateway Project comes with a […]
Safe Streets Pioneer Deb Hubsmith Has Died
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Today the Streetsblog Network is mourning Deb Hubsmith, who died this week at age 45. Deb founded the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a nationwide program that is saving the lives of children endangered by reckless drivers. If you’ve advocated for or cared about safer streets in the last 10 to 15 years, chances […]
CDC: Make Cycling Safer With Protected Bike Lanes and Lower Speed Limits
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What if the United States treated traffic violence like the public health issue it is? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that would entail building bike infrastructure and slowing down drivers. Last week the CDC released a report on the long-term mortality rate among U.S. cyclists. The study covers 38 years of U.S. DOT data […]
Confounded by Spike in U.S. Traffic Deaths and Injuries? Look Around
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Traffic fatalities in the U.S. increased by 14 percent through June of this year compared to the first six months of 2014, and serious injuries jumped by 30 percent, according to the National Safety Council [PDF]. At the current rate, the group says, nationwide road deaths would top 40,000 for the first time since 2007. […]
Governor Larry Hogan’s Red Line Derailment Will Cost Maryland $100M
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We have an update on one of the year’s biggest stories on the Network. Remember when Maryland Governor Larry Hogan killed the long-planned Baltimore Red Line so he could spend the funds on road projects? Washington says that decision is about to cost the state $100 million in federal funds. Progressive Railroading reports that U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski asked Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx […]