Palmgracht, Jordaan, Amsterdam
Excellent shot of a liveable street! Narrow roads for slow speeds, clear corners for better vision, play spaces, trees…
photo: Thomas Schlijper
1 month ago · 106 notes · Reblogged from irishboyinlondon
Women Who Bike: A Survey in the Name of Social Science
If you’re a woman who bikes for transportation, please consider taking 10-15 minutes of your time for this survey. Your input is quite valuable.
I know some of my followers are women who commute by bike, so go ahead and take the survey!
1 month ago · 26 notes · Source · Reblogged from curiousaleta
San Francisco lays out $200 million in bike projects in next 5 years
Will Reisman. Jan 27, 2013
The City is proposing $200 million worth of changes to its cycling network in the next five years.
Building 12 new miles of bike lanes, upgrading 50 miles of existing paths and installing more than 20,000 new racks are all part of the plan.
Biking has increased by 71 percent since 2006, and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which manages cycling policies in The City, is hoping to build out its network to meet the demand.
At the board of directors’ annual workshop meeting Tuesday, the agency is expected to discuss potential scenarios for bicycling expansion.
As part of its five-year strategic plan, the agency proposes to upgrade 50 intersections to accommodate bicycles and deploy and maintain 2,750 bikes as part of a grab-and-go bike-sharing network.”
Photo: Anna Latino/ Special to the S.F. Examiner
A city committed to bike infrastructure. I love it. I want more bikes!
3 months ago · 13 notes · Reblogged from massurban
Get on this train
This 高铁 (gaotie), or high speed train, travels at 350km/h. 06.2010.When will Americans realize we’re losing the infrastructure race to China?
Right now, there is zero prospect of significantly raising infrastructure spending. As part of the 2009 stimulus package, Congress authorized $10.1 billion for the U.S. High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, which would provide grants to states seeking to enhance existing passenger rail service and build new dedicated high-speed railways. Very few states succeeded in securing grants to develop high-speed trains before Congress eliminated funding for the program in 2011. And that was under President Barack Obama. The long-term budget proposed by Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate, would halve discretionary spending as a fraction of GDP over the next decade. The document, know as “The Path To Prosperity,” was endorsed by the House of Representatives—and it does not mention the word “infrastructure.” Ryan appears to believe that the private market will supply public transportation, sewer systems and power grids, and repairs bridges and roadways.
Perhaps even more dangerous than the Republican idée fixe over government spending is the chest-thumping braggadocio that insists the United States is the greatest nation the world has ever seen, and has nothing to learn from anyone. When will we wake up? Only, I imagine, when it too late to do much about our plight.
foreignpolicy, 24.08.12.
Honestly, I don’t even care about China. I’m disappointed that the government (both state and federal) have given up on innovation and the idea that we should improve simply because we want to be the best. We should aspire for better infrastructure, but instead we have fewer rails lines, interstates that are falling apart, no hope for high-speed rail, and not enough emphasis of sustainable transit. The trans-continental railroad and the interstate highway system would never get built today.
The only real transportation innovation is happening at the city level. While bike and car share, BRT and smart meters are awesome, it’s not enough.
8 months ago · 1 note · Reblogged from citymaus
A Growing "Quality of Life Gap" in America?
I realize this article is a few days old, but I’ve been too busy traveling around the Midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota to be specific) over the past week or so to post anything. What this article does is highlight the fact that states and cities that can’t or won’t invest in infrastructure are losing out, particularly as educated young people who value public transportation and sustainable communities leave for cities on the coast.
Yes, I realize that there are cities in the Midwest such as the Twin Cities and Chicago that have embraced things like bikeability and great public spaces in cities. I was in Minneapolis a few days ago and was once again impressed by the bike lanes, light rail construction, co-ops and other markers of forward thinking cities.
The problem is that without large-scale state and region-wide investment in infrastructure these cities will remain isolated. For example, I am about to move to Urbana-Champaign. When I visited last week I was impressed with the biking infrastructure and with the bus system (though the bus only stops at my hosue during weekday daytime house), but good luck leaving Urbana-Champaign to go anywhere else without a car. The “cities” are surrounded by farmland. Yes you can take one of the three daily Amtrak trains to Chicago, but those aren’t even the Acela trains that run up and down the east coast. Those are the old trains that travel at speeds that the rest of the developed world laughs at.
If the Midwest and the South don’t want to become the wasteland that Northeast and Pacfic Coast states already think they are they need to start demonstrating that they understand the future. They can start by understanding that what made the industrial revolution and the growth of the mid-20th century possible was an investment in infrastructure.
![massurban:
“Why U.S. Transit Systems Are Still So Far Away From Converting to Driverless Trains
Stephen Smith. July 9, 2012
With Google priming Nevada to be the first state to allow driverless cars on its roads, transit fans could be forgiven for asking: Where are the driverless trains?
The technology is relatively simple and has been around for decades. Unlike cars, which are autonomous and proceed on sight alone, railways must be centrally controlled to prevent collisions. So while a driverless car is limited by how far its sensors can “see,” the central computer that directs driverless trains is fully aware of all trains on its tracks, removing much of the guesswork.
The United States doesn’t yet have any fully automated trains outside of a few airport shuttles and small-scale “people movers,” but Europe and Asia have adopted the technology quite readily. European firms like Italy’s AnsaldoBreda and France’s Matra (now owned by Siemens) pioneered the technology, and which operates on six continents. Africa’s first system, in Algiers, opened in November of last year.
The obvious advantage of driverless trains over their manned counterparts is that transit agencies don’t have to pay drivers. Upgrading to driverless requires a large upfront investment, and still requires humans to act as engineers, maintenance workers, janitors, and station managers. But after the investment is made, eliminating the driver position offers agencies flexibility and riders much more frequent service.
During rush hour, the main impediment to more service is the number of trains an agency owns, and in some cases tracks that simply can’t handle any more traffic. But during off-peak hours, it’s the cost of putting drivers on each train that determines how often the trains come.
Driverless service eliminates these costs, “break[ing] the connection between frequency and labor costs,” as transit consultant Jarrett Walker put it. Vancouver’s driverless SkyTrain network, for example, has off-peak headways that would make Americans drool with envy. Riders on the Expo and Millennium trunk line never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a train, even late at night – a frequency that would be prohibitively expensive without driverless trains.”
Via: The Atlantic
Photo: Reuters
This is sort of a silly question because it assumes that the federal, state, and local governments are interested in investing in infrastructure improvements. While there certainly are a lot of people who understand that America’s failing infrastructure is holding us back, most lawmakers aren’t interested. From California and Wisconsin arguing about high speed rail to the people of Virginia barely consenting to build the Metro out to Dulles airport to Congress’ stripping down the transportation bill politicians have shown over and over that they a) have no interest in improving America and b) have no long-term vision.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6y1nb88uD1qm7ffpo1_500.jpg)
“Why U.S. Transit Systems Are Still So Far Away From Converting to Driverless Trains
Stephen Smith. July 9, 2012
With Google priming Nevada to be the first state to allow driverless cars on its roads, transit fans could be forgiven for asking: Where are the driverless trains?
The technology is relatively simple and has been around for decades. Unlike cars, which are autonomous and proceed on sight alone, railways must be centrally controlled to prevent collisions. So while a driverless car is limited by how far its sensors can “see,” the central computer that directs driverless trains is fully aware of all trains on its tracks, removing much of the guesswork.
The United States doesn’t yet have any fully automated trains outside of a few airport shuttles and small-scale “people movers,” but Europe and Asia have adopted the technology quite readily. European firms like Italy’s AnsaldoBreda and France’s Matra (now owned by Siemens) pioneered the technology, and which operates on six continents. Africa’s first system, in Algiers, opened in November of last year.
The obvious advantage of driverless trains over their manned counterparts is that transit agencies don’t have to pay drivers. Upgrading to driverless requires a large upfront investment, and still requires humans to act as engineers, maintenance workers, janitors, and station managers. But after the investment is made, eliminating the driver position offers agencies flexibility and riders much more frequent service.
During rush hour, the main impediment to more service is the number of trains an agency owns, and in some cases tracks that simply can’t handle any more traffic. But during off-peak hours, it’s the cost of putting drivers on each train that determines how often the trains come.
Driverless service eliminates these costs, “break[ing] the connection between frequency and labor costs,” as transit consultant Jarrett Walker put it. Vancouver’s driverless SkyTrain network, for example, has off-peak headways that would make Americans drool with envy. Riders on the Expo and Millennium trunk line never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a train, even late at night – a frequency that would be prohibitively expensive without driverless trains.”
Via: The Atlantic
Photo: Reuters
This is sort of a silly question because it assumes that the federal, state, and local governments are interested in investing in infrastructure improvements. While there certainly are a lot of people who understand that America’s failing infrastructure is holding us back, most lawmakers aren’t interested. From California and Wisconsin arguing about high speed rail to the people of Virginia barely consenting to build the Metro out to Dulles airport to Congress’ stripping down the transportation bill politicians have shown over and over that they a) have no interest in improving America and b) have no long-term vision.
10 months ago · 35 notes · Source · Reblogged from smartercities
Chicago is setting off on an ambitious $7 billion program to overhaul the metropolis’ aging infrastructure, from replacing crumbling commuter rail stations and century-old water pipes to building new airport runways and parks, its mayor announced Thursday.
— “Chicago Embarks on a $7 Billion Infrastructure Plan” in Bloomberg Businessweek
1 year ago · 3 notes
New data adds job creation to the many benefits of bicycle infrastructure
From US Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood’s blog, a new study of Baltimore finds that pedestrian and bicycle projects created nearly twice as many jobs per dollar spent than typical road projects.
1 year ago · 25 notes · Reblogged from secretrepublic
Urban sprawl from the sky
This morning I flew into Minneapolis. I love Minnesota, but it is definitely an example of a car-centric city. They’ve made some great progress in terms of adding bike-paths and light rail, but the main roads are so wide, devoid of character, and pedestrian unfriendly. And the surface parking lots smack in the middle of downtown. It makes me want to cry.
1 year ago · 0 notes
Republicans know that urban areas are diverse. Millions of Americans use public transportation. Cars have to be parked. Cars require gas stations. Cars, with the cost of gasoline, are, in my opinion, making a huge and lasting dent in household budgets which has enriched oil companies at the expense of everyone else.
Without public transit, Americans, will be captured by the oil companies forever.
Without public transit, American commerce will disappear. Public parks, public lands, public schools, public libraries, public health, and all aspects of the pubic good will end forever. The oil companies win. Our country becomes unrecognizable; one nation under Exxon.
This is no dream for America. It is legalized larceny.-purpledot, boston. comment on nytimes article, 09.02.12.
1 year ago · 10 notes · Reblogged from citymaus
Should it Take Decades to Build a Subway?
Well it takes 8 months to replace 3 escalators here in DC, so it makes sense that actually building a subway line would take decades. Every time I hear that a project will be done in 10-15 years I cringe. It took less than 10 years to put a man on the moon after we announced that we were going to do it. Building a few miles of subway? That takes twice as long. Clearly, we have some issues to work out.
1 year ago · 1 note
Congress doing what they do best: Ruining Infrastructure
The House Transportation Bill eliminates pedestrian and biking. funding. I’d think that “a 40% increase in bicycling from 2000-2009,” would be a sign that dedicated funding has made a difference, and we should be spending more money to improve this infrastructure; particularly infrastructure that supports strong, healthy communities. But then again that would be the smart thing to do and we’re talking about Congress.
1 year ago · 0 notes
And herein lies the problem: it does not matter how clean and uninterrupted the sidewalks are; if the door-to-door time and level of convenience cannot approximate what one could accomplish by car, many people, when given the choice, will simply drive. And this simple fact of distance needs to be discussed and tackled, otherwise we are simply never going to be able to move policy in a meaningful direction towards real and genuine walkability.
1 year ago · 0 notes
Long-term transportation funding likely to be delayed
Oh government, how short-sighted you are. How can we expect to re-build our economy if people can’t get to where they need to be? Smart countries invest in infrastructure, because infrastructure promotes growth. If you can get to work in a shorter amount of time, with less stress and without fear that the bridge will collapse then you will probably be more productive.
1 year ago · 67 notes
WE NEED SIDEWALKS!!!!
—
from a parent survey re: walking and biking to school.
Lakeview Elementary in East San Diego County.
America is so backwards. It’s unbelievable that we don’t have one of the most integral parts of infrastructure. *Where’s our money going toward? Widening roads.*
(via citymaus)
1 year ago · 82 notes · Reblogged from citymaus
