U.S. DOT Joins the Blogosphere

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (or, more likely, her communications team) has taken up blogging, but the new PR outlet comes with a title that's not so friendly to all modes of transportation.

1 minute read

May 4, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


"On Tuesday, U.S. DOT unveiled 'Fast Lane,' a blog-type website supposedly authored by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. Whoever came up with the name, however, didn't do much to elevate the perception of Peters among transit and bike advocates, with whom she has a mixed record at best...

"While it's hard to take any PR from the administration at face value, to its credit, comments are enabled on the blog, and the moderators aren't screening out every bike-friendly suggestion that comes up.

"There are also a few unintentionally humorous touches, like the conceit that mayors, governors, and the secretary herself are actually writing these posts. A Flickr-style photo pool is full of un-captioned images, typically featuring Peters or some unnamed official inspecting/pointing at/riding on an unidentified piece of gear. This raises the question: When will we be able to friend the Secretary of Transportation on Facebook?"

Thanks to Ben Fried

Thursday, May 1, 2008 in Streetsblog

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29, 2026 - Ben Schneider

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

Members of the Smoketown CLT gather for a photo

One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing

The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.

November 9 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

November 9 - De Zeen

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.