Transit

The city’s MillionTrees program fights asthma and global warming. But tightening maintenance budgets, increasingly severe weather and decades-old planting decisions complicate trees’ contribution.

In Wisconsin, taxpayers pay roughly $779 per household for roads and $50 for transit. But most drivers still believe that transit is subsidized and roads pay for themselves, writes Tanya Snyder.

Josh Stephens writes that while Al Queda seems obsessed with air travel, they have attacked transit in other countries and the U.S. system is vulnerable.

In New York, Arts for Transit is a program that was started to bring "original and integrated artworks into MTA stations and spaces and to promote design excellence." Director, Sandra Bloodworth sits with Urban Omnibus to discuss the program.

Seattle's East Link light rail extension project is said to be completed in 2023 and will attract about 50,000 riders a day, says Yonah Freemark. In addition, the city council wants a section of the line to be tunneled under Downtown Bellevue.

After nine years of public outreach and study, transit was abruptly and secretively dropped from plans for the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Now, neither New York Governor Andrew Cuomo nor the US Department of Transportation will say why.

In Modesto CA, a portion of sales tax is used to support the Local Transportation Fund (LTF) which is used for dial-a-ride, trains, and other transit services. Instead, the county wants to use this money for road fixtures.

One rider calls it "the worst transit system I have ever seen..." The Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority hopes to make it better with more regular buses and a rapid transit system.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Fast Company's Boyd Cohen writes how New York City's preparedness for Hurricane's should include enhancing infrastructure in things like the Internet and transit.

Writer J.J. Sedelmaier recalls riding the beautifully streamlined Electroliner trains, which ran on the same tracks as other Chicago rail transit but were a special event all to themselves.

Suburban areas don't necessarily equate with car-dependence, according to some New Urbanist plans for far-out areas. But convincing residents to opt for transit can be a challenge.

New TRAX light rail lines in Salt Lake City opened a year early and 20% under budget.

Want to speed up your transit? Follow San Francisco's lead and let your passengers enter any door they please, says Yonah Freemark. A pilot program on the J-Church line is testing out the idea.

The Atlanta Beltline Partnership's annual report shows how revitalization programs, workforce housing, parks and trails have been blossoming. Yet transit development has lagged behind, reports Kaid Benfield for The Atlantic.

A group of mayor in the metropolitan Vancouver area have proposed an increase in the gas tax to develop a fund for a long-stalled transit project.

Rail projects throughout the U.S. are hard hit by the downturn in the economy. The agencies behind them are trying to find ways to keep the projects from falling apart.

The DOT awarded a billion and a half in grants to transit projects on the Fourth of July. Eric Jaffe has the lowdown on projects from Connecticut to Colorado.

In Stockholm, Sweden, planners are moving ahead with a broad central city redevelopment plan that seeks to continue the city's trend of reducing car traffic and congestion, and making it easier for bikers, walkers and transit takers to get around.

Facing $60 million in deficits over the next year, transportation officials in metropolitan Seattle are pushing a plan to ask voters to approve an increase in the price of registering cars in the area to create a transportation fund.