Ben Fried

Ben Fried is the editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. He joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter in 2008. Today he oversees Streetsblog's family of sites covering stories of significance to the national movement for better walking, biking, and transit.

Ben graduated from Oberlin College with a concentration in architecture, and he holds a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University.

He lives with his wife in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, and he loves the Mets.

Recent Posts

Imagine all the Trump signs marking projects that get tax breaks from the infrastructure plan Steve Bannon is pushing for.
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Steve Bannon Would Love to Team Up With Chuck Schumer on Infrastructure

By Angie Schmitt and Ben Fried |
We mentioned it briefly last week, but Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s comments to the Hollywood Reporter about infrastructure are worth a closer look. It helps explain why Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are making a grave mistake when they line up to help Trump implement this plan. Bannon is the propagandist who entered the Trump campaign team after […]

Do Not Collaborate With Hatred

By Ben Fried |
Last week, on the day after the election, I watched as Chuck Schumer and Andrew Cuomo, Democrats who represent my state, said they could find common ground with Donald Trump, with Cuomo specifically mentioning “infrastructure” as a potential area of collaboration. We responded with a post explaining why this was a strategic mistake in terms of transportation policy. Today […]

What Changed Yesterday, and What Didn’t

By Ben Fried |
America just elected Donald Trump, who got a foothold in national politics by fanning a conspiracy about Barack Obama’s country of origin, who ran a campaign premised on a naked appeal to racist anger and resentment, who shredded every norm of conduct on his way to the presidency. He’s going to occupy the White House […]

The Upside of Seattle’s Transit Expansion: High Capacity

By Ben Fried |
The Seattle region’s 62-mile transit expansion plan has some serious flaws. Namely, the city of Seattle, where the ridership needs are greatest, gets short shrift compared to suburban areas. Zach Shaner at Seattle Transit Blog argues that ST3, as the plan is called, also gets a lot right. Instead of running on defunct freight tracks or operating at-grade […]
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Rescuing New Ideas From the Purgatory of Old Bureaucracy

By Ben Fried |
Your city may have a complete streets policy. Your mayor may say all the right things about making streets work for walking, biking, and transit. But if the inner workings of government — city budgets, agency protocols — aren’t set up to enable big street design breakthroughs, all you’ll get are scattershot improvements. Writing for Network blog Broken Sidewalk, Chris […]
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It’s Happening: Construction of Maryland’s Purple Line Set to Start This Year

By Ben Fried |
Yesterday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that a contractor has been selected to build the 14-mile Purple Line light rail in DC’s Maryland suburbs. It’s a milestone and a major relief following Hogan’s long history of brinkmanship with the project. Kelli Raboy at Greater Greater Washington posted the happy news: After Marylanders elected Governor Larry Hogan […]
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Straightening Out the Vestigial Kinks in Bus Routes

By Ben Fried |
Just a few months after Houston reorganized its bus network to provide more frequent service where more people can use it — without increasing the operating budget — ridership is already on the upswing. A lot goes in to bus network analysis and how to put scarce resources to better use. But some inefficiencies clearly stand out on a […]
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