Streetsblog USA

Despite the occasional feature story about America's "infrastructure crisis" and the campaign platforms for increased investment, the "era of big infrastructure is over," argues University of Minnesota engineering professor David Levinson at the Transportist.

New Mexico was recently named the deadliest state for walking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Something's got to change, but what? Well, the Albuquerque Journal ran a front page article blaming the state's terrible safety record mostly on "jaywalking" and "drunk pedestrians."

A new payment option rolled out by Capital Bikeshare in DC last week makes it easier to grab a bike if you just want to make a single trip. The pilot program offers a base fare of $2 to check out a bike, with additional fees after the first 30 minutes. Previously, you would have had to commit to at least an $8 24-hour pass to use the system.

Kevin DeGood of the Center for American Progress and Deron Lovaas of NRDC join the podcast this week to talk about rules proposed by U.S. DOT to measure congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. These rules matter because they'll create new feedback loops for transportation agencies -- the feds can create incentives to reduce car trips and carbon pollution if they choose. A draft released in April was not very encouraging, but the final rules could be much better.

Better street design and getting more people on bikes -- not blind faith in helmets -- are the keys to making cycling safer, recent research has shown.

Cleveland is finally getting around to establishing guidelines to foster walkable development around rail stops -- which is in very short supply. Some stations are surrounded by little more than vacant industrial space or parking lots. (One of the stops on the underused Waterfront Line, called "Muni Parking," is in the middle of the enormous City Hall parking lot.)

Impermeable surfaces like parking lots are terrible for the environment in several ways, including the water pollution that results when stormwater runoff causes sewer systems to overflow. In Ohio, the state's highest court recently upheld a fee on parking lots to help mitigate the damage to water quality.

Who is responsible for the safety of kids on the street?

Wherever there is a bike lane, there is probably an angry driver complaining that it is always empty.