Finished the first draft of my play in iambic pentameter! Because I have the freedom to do weird shit now! Anyway, given that I've been bike commuting in Boston since 2008, I was thinking I could put together some bike commuting tips for folks considering it. Do you think anyone would want such a thing? #bike#bikecommute#transportation#boston
This was an interesting email to receive today. It reminded me of some things we discussed back on The Oil Drum about this very thing (the online archive still available: http://theoildrum.com/special/archives ) - how paving over all the old city & county gravel roads had introduced a pile of fixed costs (not just paving, but regular re-grading, snow plowing, etc) that towns would eventually have to shed.
In other words, at some point in the not too distant future, they will start turning roads back into gravel roads, slowly but surely, starting at the very outside edges and creeping inward until only a certain core of local paved roads remains.
Private automobiles are not the future of anything, and it is a gross mis-allocation of funds to waste money on expanding roads.
The communities that were crushed and divided by highways can be repaired, though they will never have the same vibrancy as before, nor will the original displaced inhabitants benefit in any way.
But it's a start.
"...Decades ago, people decided to create the freeways. Now, we must decide if we will continue this path or reverse the damage to repair our communities..."
Cidades demasiado dependentes de carros deviam ser vistas como sinal de subdesenvolvimento. A ideia de querer obrigar as pessoas a endividarem-se à fartazana para comprar latas rolantes mastodônticas para serem deixadas à noite em cima dos passeios das cidades não tem ponta por onde se lhe pegue!
That’s because a campaign to make Paris greener, primarily by reducing its dependence on cars, has transformed it into a shining example of what many environmental activists, city planners and transit advocates say ought to be the future of cities worldwide.
Paris has closed more than 100 streets to motor vehicles, tripled parking fees for SUVs, removed roughly 50,000 parking spots, and constructed more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of bike lanes since Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office in 2014.
Those changes have contributed to a 40% decline in air pollution, according to city officials.
“How did we achieve this?” Hidalgo said in a statement in March. “By assuming a major and radical rupture: the end of car-dependence.”
Mainichi: "Texas shinkansen may not operate until early 2030s, Amtrak says... Most recently slated for completion in 2026, the project is receiving technical support from Japanese shinkansen operator Central Japan Railway Co. If it goes ahead, the railway will connect Dallas and Houston, two major Texas cities approximately 380 kilometers apart, in about 90 minutes, but planning has been repeatedly delayed due to financing concerns, among other reasons. " https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240530/p2g/00m/0bu/049000c#transportation#trains#texas
Oregon lawmakers 2024 statewide listening tour to gather input on how to fund and invest in #transportation in 2025, first stop is happening in #Portland on June 4th, at 5 pm.
We look at three states where legislation has been proposed to hamper the rollout of bus lanes, EVs and more. Florida has even banned bus wraps, but not because Governor DeSantis cares about bus riders.
Become a Patreon supporter of the podcast to listen:
Golze, J., & Sester, M. (2024). Determining user specific #semantics of locations extracted from #TrajectoryData. Transportation Research Procedia, 78, 215-221. - "stop points are extracted from the GPS #trajectories using the #Python framework MovingPandas"
These U.S. Cities Have More Parking Lots Than Housing - They paved paradise again and again and again.
by Frank Jacobs, Big Think May 17, 2024
"...On average, about one-fifth of all land in city centers is dedicated to parking. But what’s the actual harm being done by all that parking space? For one, city centers that are more “parkable” become less walkable. In other words, fewer things are casually accessible.
...Americans’ attitude toward driving is changing. The share of high school seniors with a driving license has dropped from 85.3% in 1996 to 71.5% in 2015. The rise of shared, multi-modal, and (soon, they keep promising us) autonomous mobility will further reduce the need for driver’s licenses, individual cars, and massive parking facilities in city centers.
Perhaps it’s time for American cities to become denser, more lived-in, more walkable—and less “parkable.”
The passenger station & #train depot will function as assembly, repair, maintenance & operational center for long-delayed & anticipated – #FirstEver#RailLine of its kind in the southern metropolis.