Transit

LA: An "Ideal Transit City"?

Matthew Yglesias reports on how Los Angeles is embracing its natural advantages to become an "ideal transit city," matching its transit investments with improvements to the built environment.

September 17, 2012 - Slate.com

For Reducing Traffic, Americans Favor Transit Over Roads

Finally, something Red and Blue America can agree on! A new poll published this week by the NRDC shows support for local investment in transit to reduce traffic crosses the country's wide political and geographic divides.

September 14, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

Transit Wins at Job Creation Game

Blogging on HuffPo, Greg LeRoy, director of Good Jobs First, makes the case that transit, transit oriented development and smart growth are key factors in job growth.

September 7, 2012 - Huffington Post

There’s a Lot Riding on U.S. DOT’s Definition of 'Congestion'

As the new federal transportation bill, known as MAP-21, moves to the implementation stage, major finding decisions will ride on the nuances by which the U.S. DOT defines and measures "congestion," "roadway performance," and "cost effectiveness".

August 16, 2012 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

A Tale of Three Lobbies

In the early 1990s, transportation politics at both the state and federal levels was often fairly simple: an all-powerful Road Gang (made up of real estate developers and road contractors) typically got whatever it wanted, rolling over a much weaker pro-transit coalition of environmentalists and urban politicians.

August 7, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Solving the "Bus Bunching" Problem

Everyone has seen the phenomenon of "bus bunching" - no matter what the schedule, buses end up clustered together in packs, resulting in some full buses and some empty ones and a long wait for some. Two professors say they have a solution.

June 27, 2012 - World Transit Research

Transit Apps For People With Disabilities

Google Transit has changed the way people plan their public transportation trips. Now there's an app, OnTheBus, for people with visual, hearing, physical and cognitive impairments. Zak Stone describes the tool.

June 23, 2012 - Good

Designing Transit Networks That People Will Actually Use

Eric Jaffe examines the unusual success of transit in Broward County, Florida, proving that a little route planning goes a long way.

May 23, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

How to Resuscitate a Foundering Transit System

Stephen Lee Davis investigates a campaign by Baton Rouge community groups to revive its bus service as it teetered on the brink of collapse.

May 20, 2012 - Transportation for America

Transit and seniors

I occasionally have speculated that our aging society would lead to increased transit ridership, as seniors lost the ability to drive. But I recently discovered that seniors are actually less likely to use public transit than the general public. One study by the American Public Transit Association showed that 6.7% of transit riders are over 65 (as opposed to 12.4% of all Americans).(1) The oldest Americans are even more underrepresented on America's buses and trains: only 1.5% of transit riders are over 80, about half their share of the population (2). The only other age group that is underrepresented on public transit is Americans under 18.

May 17, 2012 - Michael Lewyn

Finding Joy Outside Our Cars

Sarah Goodyear explores the need to market non-automotive transportation on its emotional appeal, rather than reason, as argued by Darrin Nordahl in his new e-book, Making Transit Fun!

May 3, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Congestion Pricing: The Key to Better Transit?

Noah Kazis describes the explosive success of transit systems in London, Stockholm, and Singapore, and suggests that charging motorists for road use is the secret ingredient that keeps ridership high and public support strong.

May 3, 2012 - Streetsblog

America's Top Ten Transit Meccas

Real estate's favorite tool for gauging neighborhood walkability now has a companion for transit, Kaid Benfield reports.

April 26, 2012 - Switchboard

Winning an Uphill Battle for Transit

Marie Cusick reports on a community driven effort to bring bus service to a challenged neighborhood in Albany, New York.

April 8, 2012 - NPR

Is Generation Y Weaning Off the Automobile?

Angie Schmitt discusses new research from U.S. PIRG indicating youngsters are relying on their cars less than the generation before them, motivated by more than just thinning pocketbooks.

April 8, 2012 - Streetsblog

Can Bay Area Transit Be Saved?

With rapidly increasing gaps between costs and funding, the transit systems serving the San Francisco bay area are on an unsustainable path. Egon Terplan offers six solutions to ensure they serve bay area residents long into the future.

March 15, 2012 - Streetsblog SF

Untangling Our Emotions From Transit Planning

Eric Jaffe interviews Jarrett Walker, the author of a new, nonpartisan treatise on thinking rationally about transit.

March 11, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Lost in Transportation

The inconsistent signage, representing 26 different public transportation systems in the Bay Area, leaves many riders feeling lost. Julie Caine describes the confusion and improvements underway.

March 6, 2012 - Transportation Nation

As New York Plants One Million Trees, Benefits—and Some Burdens—Grow

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.

February 1, 2012 - City Limits

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