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Monthly archive for June, 2009
On Newly Car-Free Broadway, Vendors Disappointed By Slow Sales
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
We love the idea of turning Broadway into a pedestrian mall–it’s a win for New York City and there’s plenty of evidence that increasing foot traffic on a street generally translates into higher sales for local merchants. But when we Read more ›
Stimulus Buying A Lot Of New Highways, Not Much New Transit
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] Transportation funds from the stimulus bill are being spent stupidly, it seems. The $35 billion dedicated to roads, bridges and transit could be creating many more jobs and doing a lot more to improve the country’s infrastructure. Smart Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘America’s Sickest Malls’ Edition
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] The way we live now involves many quadrillion BTUs of wasted energy. But we’ve also spent trillions to build our cities the way they are. What to do? A few easy retrofits: Bike shares, smart grid, mobility hubs, Read more ›
How To Convince A Conservative To Support Public Transportation (William Lind Explains)
Monday, June 29th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] Transportation bills of the last decade have enjoyed a terrific amount of bipartisan support, thanks perhaps to a flood of earmarks and a lack of any strong federal mandates therein. But this year (or next year? or 2011?) Read more ›
The Daily Dig: ‘Infrastructure As Branding Opportunity’ Edition
Monday, June 29th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] – In NYC the cost travelling by subway–a trip that might take you anywhere from Far Rockaway to Pelham–now costs an extra 25 cents. “Taking Us For A Ride,” quips the Post. (NY Post) A bank is paying Read more ›
Swipe Out! 10 Delightful Arts & Crafts Projects Involving Dead Metrocards
Friday, June 26th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] New Yorkers know that even if you’re saving the world by riding public transit, you’re killing it every time you throw out your spent Metrocards. Being green is hard! Well, hard until you slip into your Metrocard suit Read more ›
Amazing Video Of Superfast Bridge Construction
Friday, June 26th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] This is a bridge being built in some other country — a place that apparently still possesses the kind of can-do moxie we had in America until we discovered Cheetos, outsourcing and narcissism. Look at how fast everything Read more ›
The Daily Dig – High Speed Rail Edition
Friday, June 26th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] After passing on HSR a few years ago because Jeb Bush said scary things about it, Florida prepares to invest in a system linking its major cities. The state could be a bellwether for other sprawly, populous regions Read more ›
Congressman: Make Wall Street A**holes Foot The Bill For Infrastructure
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Politicians agree that we need to invest in our transportation infrastructure, but ask any of them how we should pay for it and you’re likely to endure an uncomfortable silence. The problem is so bad that it seems to have Read more ›
Historical Documents: Oberstar’s Two-Page Handwritten Outline Of The Transpo Bill
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Earlier this week, Jim Oberstar was giving a speech to some transportation planning types and told a story. Earlier this year the chairman of the House transportation committee had scribbled down some ideas for the new transportation bill, and he Read more ›
Transportation Bill Is Dead As A Doornail For 2009 Because Nobody Can Figure Out How To Pay For It
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Over the past week or so, there has been a pretend drama in Washington about whether we’ll be getting a giant new transportation bill in 2009. The prospect is exiciting, of course, because in addition to $500 billion in loot Read more ›
The Daily Dig – ‘The NY Times Moved Our Cheese’ Edition
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] The White House now estimates that the country will need $20 billion–$20 billion!!–in 2010 to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, the gas tax kitty that pays for roads and transit. (Politico) Could this mean a potential delay Read more ›
6 More Great Train Stations Lost To The Wrecking Ball
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
We have already looked at 10 impressive US train stations that were bulldozed and replaced with lesser structures, if they were replaced at all. Here are six more stops on our tour of the nation’s legacy of demolished depots. 1. Read more ›
Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking Ball
Monday, June 22nd, 2009The Daily Dig – World’s Scariest Bike Path Edition
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] – The Economist notes that a $500 billion transportation bill requires $500 billion. “There may be a new vision for transport, but it will never progress until someone is willing to pay for it.” Neo-Nazis won the right Read more ›
A Solution: Raise the &%#$ing Gas Tax Already
Friday, June 19th, 2009
What’s going on with the transportation bill? Nobody knows. The two biggest players are saying nearly contradictory things. Jim Oberstar and others on the Transportation Committee want go full speed ahead with a new bill, an outline for which Oberstar Read more ›
The Daily Dig – High Speed Rail Edition
Friday, June 19th, 2009
- [SButtonZ button="digg"] A draft outline of the next transportation bill includes $50 billion for high speed rail. Ka-Pow! Of course, whether we’ll actually have a new bill before 2011 is another question… (Transportation for America) Is 110 mph “high Read more ›
Video Gallery: Naked Protesters On Bikes
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
[SButtonZ button="digg"] In case you didn’t catch any of the abundant media coverage, there were World Naked Bike Ride protests in cities around the world last weekend. People of all ages and shapes and genders rode around with unconcealed bits Read more ›
Congressman: Amtrak Is ‘Fascist’
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Just to be clear: By “Congressman” here we’re referring to Ron Paul. Hard as it sometimes is to believe, he really is an elected member of Congress–because he’s also a weird old man with a blimp, more rabid fans than Read more ›
Green Transportation Funding Is Crucial In The Climate Bill And Beyond
Friday, June 26th, 2009We cannot successfully address the issue of global warming without dealing with transportation, a sector that accounts for nearly one-third of our nation’s carbon emissions. I just finished speaking on the House floor in defense of the American Clean Energy Read more ›