Streetsblog Network

It's hard to imagine, but at one point not that long ago, cities in America were at a inflection point. In the early part of the last century, the first signs of motorization and sprawl were just appearing. But not everyone was convinced that the crabgrass frontier was inevitable.

If you have a well-worn copy of Ralph Nader’s seminal “Unsafe at Any Speed” on your bookshelf -- and who doesn’t? -- you know that in the mid 20th century U.S. auto companies were hostile to the idea of designing safer cars. Introducing basic features like padded dashboards and collapsible steering columns, the thinking went, would be tantamount to acknowledging that driving is dangerous.

On Sunday residents of Portland got a preview of Tilikum Crossing, a.k.a. the "Bridge of the People," described by Michael Andersen of BikePortland as "the first bridge in the United States to carry buses, bikes, trains, streetcars and people walking but no private cars."

When you're on a bike getting passed by motorists going 20 or 30 mph faster than you, it can feel like one act of deliberate aggression after another. And in many cases there is real, seething hostility and complete disregard for other people's safety at work. But a lot of the time, people drive fast because that's the message the street design is sending, and they don't know any better.

No one was hurt when a Metro train derailed in downtown DC yesterday, but the incident wreaked havoc on the morning commute -- for transit users and motorists.

In the early 20th century “chauffeur” was synonymous with “motorist,” and by 1906 Life Magazine had had enough of them.

Today in bad ideas, Bike Pittsburgh reports that Pennsylvania State Representative Anthony DeLuca wants state traffic code to mandate that anyone riding a bike at night wear reflective clothing.

We wrote a couple of months back about how Amsterdam prioritized people over cars only after ceding city streets to motor vehicles. Today, David Hembrow at A View From the Cycle Path has more on that subject.

Residential parking permits are often referred to as "hunting licenses" because while they grant permit holders the privilege of parking on the street, there's usually no limit to how many permits can be issued. If there are more permits in a neighborhood than available on-street parking spaces, there's still going to be a parking crunch and permit holders will still circle streets hunting for a spot.