Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the library’s blog.
Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own (Grist)
A study of bicycle infrastructure in Montreal found that cyclists are safer and more abundant when they have their own bike paths that are separated from traffic by a physical barrier. Despite their success in encouraging biking, current federal guidelines discourage installation of such paths and some cycling groups disagree about whether bikes should be treated exactly the same as autos.
H.R. 1 transportation budget: fewer jobs, greater costs, more pollution, worse commutes (NRDC Switchboard)
The first draft transportation budget from the House of Representatives is raising some red flags among transit advocates. For the rest of the 2011 fiscal year, the proposal calls for a $430 million cut in transit infrastructure investment, which could dramatically affect the ability of cities to manage congestion and to provide an affordable alternative to driving.
Why are Americans driving less? (Infrastructurist)
Infrastructurist breaks down a few arguments made at the New York Times Freakonomics blog. You might have thought that it’s high gas prices. As it turns out, the amount that Americans drive started to decline in 2004, long before the price spiked in 2008 and then remained relatively high. The article instead suggests that the overall decline is due to less driving by merican youth, who tend to prefer living in walkable communities.
Categories: Transportation Headlines
While it’s true that a weaker economy and rising gas prices can cause some people to switch to public transportation, it is also possible that total transit ridership decreases during a recession because less people are commuting in general. This would mean less car drivers and transit riders in number, even though the share of transit riders might have increased.
Attended one of the bus enhancement (REDUCING SERVICE) meeting, the speaker admitted the budget shortfall made MTA to cut the service.
He did mentioned one thing, less people taking the buses during the downturn. That is strange, people would more likely to switch public transportation.
My point is why MTA source always say opposite thing the MTA staff told us during the meeting