Transit systems have seen massive expansions in the past decade, yet ridership is down across the nation. LA Metro’s system is a great example of the problems plaguing many transit agenices. Despite billions in new light rail investment and adding about 40 rail miles to […]
The Difference Between Roads and Streets
The difference between roads and streets is often overlooked but important in creating livable cities. Listen to any Bruce Springsteen song and you’ll probably hear a reference to “the street”. This is often accompanied by stanzas about how he spent a summer building a ’72 Challenger […]
Baltimore’s Highway to Nowhere: Reconnecting Street Networks as a Foundation For Livable Cities
I’m currently living in Miami, but much of my formative hands-on planning education took place in Baltimore. Baltimore has an incredible array of assets, including historic neighborhoods, great architecture and a world famous waterfront. Urban renewal took its tool on the city, however, and the […]
U.S. Roadways Are Becoming More Dangerous
The title of this post contradicts many articles citing improvements in traffic safety since the 1950s. Yes, fatalities per vehicle miles traveled has declined drastically since people drive more and cars have become safer for their occupants due to seat belts and airbags. Yes, total […]
Lessons from South Florida’s Brightline Train
I recently took the new Brightline (now Virgin Trains) service between Miami and West Palm Beach. Touted as America’s first privately funded high-speed rail service, the first phase of service currently serves downtown Miami, downtown Ft. Lauderdale and downtown West Palm Beach. Expansion plans for […]
Are Peak Hour Parking Restrictions Necessary?
Walk around the downtown of any major U.S. city and you’ll probably see signs indicating time-of-day restrictions for on street parking. Some streets have AM peak restrictions, while many have PM peak restrictions. The rationale behind these policies is to better accommodate peak hour traffic […]
Car Free in Miami
Car Free America has been on hiatus, but now it’s back. I relocated for work this past winter and I’m now car free in Miami. How does it compare to Dallas? Here’s my run down: Awesome things: I find myself using Miami’s metro for useful […]
Lessons From John LaPlante at the Transportation Research Board
A few years ago I was lucky to see John N. LaPlante, P.E., PTOE speak at a TRB conference. As Chief Transportation Planner at the world–renowned T.Y Lin International, I was expecting road-widening rationales, travel demand models and an overview of ITE guidelines. Instead, he […]
Jane Jacobs, Anthony Downs and Road Widening
The last book Jane Jacobs completed before she died was Dark Age Ahead. It’s a rant against the evils (real and imagined) that she felt were crippling society. Meandering and pessimistic, it lacks the eureka moments of Death and Life of Great American Cities, but […]
Design-Oriented Traffic Safety Vs. Passive Safety
I recently read “Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty” by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo. The book makes an interesting case for understanding the cycles of disease and poverty, and explains how small, incremental changes can have huge […]