Streetsblog Network

Sometimes the worst transportation plan is having no plan at all, and northeast Ohio could be the poster child for what goes wrong when regions aren't intentional about investments in transportation infrastructure.

There’s a rush in cities to apply new transportation technologies like ride-sharing apps and real-time transit data, as exemplified by U.S. DOT’s $50 million “Smart City Challenge,” which is currently down to seven finalists. Public and private entities in Columbus, for example, recently pledged $90 million to help advance the city’s bid to U.S. DOT. But are cities well-equipped to navigate the landscape of tech contractors and make interventions that actually improve people’s lives?

A San Francisco developer made headlines a few weeks ago when it offered tenants $100 a month toward Uber and BART in an attempt to reduce the usage of on-site parking.

It's not even a new idea at this point, having made the rounds in the media about six years ago, but the "straddling bus" concept that some Chinese cities are purportedly considering continues to fascinate people. Straddling bus stories went viral again last week, with claims that the conveyance, which only exists as a scale model at this point, can carry up to 1,400 passengers while traveling above two lanes of car traffic as fast as 40 mph, according to CityLab.

California's cap-and-trade program is one of the boldest state-level climate change policies in the U.S. By capping statewide carbon pollution and then auctioning off emissions allowances, the state hopes to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate about $10.6 billion for projects to improve energy efficiency. Among other things, that money would support various rail and transit projects, including the state's high-speed rail line.

It's cliché at this point for newspapers to label any effort to improve walking, biking, or transit as a "war on cars." The latest in this proud tradition is Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley, who wrote recently that the city is waging "a shock-and-awe campaign targeting anyone who dares to drive in, through or around Seattle." What was it exactly that set him off?

Patrick Kennedy at Dallas Magazine's Street Smart blog says that when parking gets expensive, the conventional wisdom he hears is that more parking should be built. But what high parking prices really signify, he writes, is simply a strong concentration of businesses and/or housing -- the parking isn't even necessary.

In the past few years, a greater share of the population growth in and around Houston happened in the city itself, compared to the first decade of the millennium. The trend is pretty clear, reports Houston Tomorrow:

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx criss-crossed the country last week on a tour of the seven finalists for U.S. DOT's $50 million "Smart City Challenge" grant.