Transportation

Vintage Taxi

Uber Vehicles are Not Taxis, Even When They Want To Be

A June 16 vote by the San Francisco MTA to improve safety will allow taxis, along with bicycles and Muni buses, but not ride-hailing services to make turns onto the downtown's main thoroughfare, Market Street, has upset San Francisco-based Uber.

June 18, 2015 - San Francisco Chronicle

Labor Ruling in California Means Big Changes for Uber's Business Model

A California labor commissioner has resolved a long-standing dispute over the employment status of Uber drivers. Uber and other transportation network companies will have to adjust.

June 17, 2015 - Bloomberg Business

Toronto to Implement '10-Minute-Or-Better' Transit Service Network

Toronto Transit Commission recently approved a major overhaul of transit service in the city. In total, 52 transit routes will operate on ten-minute (or better) headways.

June 17, 2015 - Progressive Railroading

Half-Cent Transportation Sales Tax Considered for Tampa's Hillsborough County

A proposal to include a tax referendum on the November 2016 ballot in Hillsborough County has broad political support.

June 17, 2015 - The Tampa Tribune

Latest Hotbed of High Speed Rail Opposition: San Fernando Valley

Opposition, followed by legal action to the California High-Speed Rail project began in Northern California, spread to the Central Valley, and now has hit southern California, particularly in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County.

June 17, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Lyft

Suburbs Jump on Ride-Hailing Bandwagon

Ride-hailing services have already conquered center cities, with companies like Uber and Lyft changing the landscape for commuters, visitors, and late-night revelers alike. The next challenge: solving the suburban-to-urban commute.

June 17, 2015 - InTransition

10-Mile Bus Rapid Transit System Planned in Albuquerque

Albuquerque is working on a multi-modal reconfiguration of the old Route 66.

June 16, 2015 - Albuquerque Journal

Legislation to Decimate the Federal Gas Tax Resurfaces

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has reintroduced a bill to cut the federal gas tax by 80 percent and give transportation authority to states, known as devolution. Also, House Transportation Chair Bill Shuster is promoting repatriation as a funding source.

June 16, 2015 - The Hill

Seattle Streetcar

Seattle Confronts Its Transportation Bottleneck

By some measures, Seattle's geography makes other cramped cities like Boston and San Francisco seem positively agoraphobic. New Transportation Director Scott Kubly has vowed to keep Seattleites moving through its many bottlenecks.

June 15, 2015 - Grist

Lack of Data Still Impedes Multi-Modal Trip Navigation

A call for all transportation agencies to open their data.

June 15, 2015 - Mobility Lab

The End of the Illiana Expressway Is Nigh

According to a recent op-ed, the Illiana Expressway "was built upon faulty assumptions, and motivated largely by crony intentions."

June 15, 2015 - Illinois Policy

Governing Profiles Charles Marohn's Message on Transportation Funding

An article for Governing profiles the method and message of Charles Marohn, known to Planetizen readers as the name behind the Strong Towns blog.

June 15, 2015 - Governing

Michigan House Road Funding Plan B Would Rob Peter to Pay Paul

Now that voters have decisively rejected a sales tax measure that would have also hiked the gas tax, House representatives have proposed eliminating the state's Earned Income Tax Credit that benefits the working poor to help pay for roads.

June 15, 2015 - Record-Eagle

Increase Gas Tax—Fund Highway Expansions

While some states are cutting back on transportation expenditures as funds run short, Iowa is not one of them, having passed a 10-cent gas tax increase that took effect March 1. New highway expansions are funded in addition to "fix it first."

June 14, 2015 - The Gazette

Seattle Bikeshare Proposal Would Expand Service from 5 to 42 Square Miles

Seattle is showing all indications of a city ready to take its bikeshare system to the next level.

June 14, 2015 - Seattle Bike Blog

Aerial Tram Proposed to Connect Staten Island and Manhattan

A proposal to build a $175 million tram across the New York Harbor has the support of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation and a mayor who is willing to listen.

June 13, 2015 - Staten Island Advance

Toronto

Toronto City Council Decides to Rebuild Gardiner East Expressway

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The Toronto City Council sided with Mayor John Tory this week to rebuild an elevated freeway in downtown rather than tearing it down.

June 12, 2015 - Toronto Star

Road Diet in the Works

24 Road Diet Case Studies from the U.S. Department of Transportation

Following a "Mayors Challenge" for bike safety by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently released a "Road Diets" report, providing a geographical diverse collection of case studies.

June 12, 2015 - Publicola

San Francisco to Prohibit Cars From Turning Onto Market Street

The Safer Market Street project is one of a package of traffic safety projects underway in San Francisco to achieve a Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

June 12, 2015 - SFGate

Bikelash is Back: Citi Bike Expansion Upsets Upper West Side Residents

The more things change, the more things stay the same. The latest installment of New Yorkers afraid of bike infrastructure has erupted in response to a proposed expansion of Citi Bike into the Upper West Side.

June 12, 2015 - New York Post

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