Messing with roads, no one walking to school: How We Roll, Sept. 19

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Things to read whilst transiting: Metro’s chief innovation officer offers his two cents on the hyperloop and self-driving vehicles. Good read.

Dept. of Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/CurbedLA/status/909982887159713795

Every time I think I’ve heard it all…I haven’t.

Opinion: Getting between motorists and their cars has become the new third rail of California politics (LAT)

Editorial page writer Kerry Cavanaugh writes “Any effort that limits, constrains or makes driving one’s car more expensive or inconvenient — no matter how civic-minded the proposal — is immediately controversial in California, and often a nonstarter.” 

Not exactly a shocker, but the op-ed raises a good question: how do you move forward on providing and/or building good transit and opportunities to walk or bike if you can’t do anything that impacts driving?

Some commenters provide a thoughtful retort, pointing out that some projects seem to unfairly impact motorists while not actually providing any meaningful benefit to walkers, bikers and transit users. Fair point.

It’s a tough issue and I’m not sure generalizing is best given the varying traffic loads in neighborhoods where traffic calming/bike lane/road diet projects are proposed. Your thoughts?

LA Metro wants to launch its own Lyft-like service to solve the first mile/last mile problem (KPCC AirTalk)

KPCC transpo reporter Meghan McCarty Carino talks about Metro’s micro-transit project — i.e. the project to test on-demand transit. Or, to put it in plain English, a small bus or van that doesn’t have a fixed route and would pick up riders who summon a ride.

The agency is asking companies for bids. As Meghan notes, it will be some time until this is up and running. We’ll have a post soon with more about the project.

Want to support the Paris agreement? Stop driving so much, LA (Curbed LA)

As we’ve noted many times, generally speaking most people can help lower greenhouse gas emissions by walking, biking or taking transit instead of driving alone. Curbed’s Alissa Walker also notes that adding density to make it easier to walk/bike/transit is helpful.

Related: our two-part blog post on transit and climate change.

Not drinking or driving, teens increasingly put off traditional markers of adulthood (Washington Post)

Excerpt:

In a city [Portland] where it is easy to bike, take buses or ride-share, he doesn’t see much need to drive. And as for dating: “It seems sort of ridiculous to be seriously dating someone in high school. I mean, what’s the plan there? Continuing to date through college and then eventually get married? That seems sort of unrealistic.”

His words, not mine!

Another excerpt:

“Although the study did not look at people under 13, Twenge said she suspects the postponement of adult behavior begins in early childhood, starting with the decrease in children walking to school alone or playing unsupervised.”

In other words, people are living longer, kids are aging slower and, thus, taking on adult activities more slowly.

Maybe. Most of the young people I meet or work with seem to be incredibly well adjusted, smart and generally fun to be around — except for the smartphone addiction thing. That said, I do think it’s tragic that so many kids no longer walk to school like I did, often through the snowy, harsh Ohio landscape….

Categories: Transportation Headlines

2 replies ›

  1. I don’t live nearby, but I was wondering why the Rose Bowl shuttle pickup point is so “far” from the Metro Station. Four blocks might not be that far, but it seems like that would be a disincentive for its use. Why isn’t the pickup point right at the Memorial Park Station entrance?

    • Hi Bob;

      It’s because the pickup point is at the Parsons offices which also offer paid parking for shuttle users. It’s a pretty short walk from Memorial Park Station to the pickup point.

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source