Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
It’s Not Good Transit If the Streets Nearby Aren’t Good for Walking
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All transit stops aren’t created equal. The street environment around the station — especially safe, convenient pedestrian access — has a major influence on how people use transit.
A wide road with strip malls on the way to a transit stop in San Diego. Photo: Edward Russell/GGW
Edward Russell at Greater Greater Washington compares two stops that offer very different walking environments — one [...]
Adieu, Cars: Paris Riverfront to Be Permanently Returned to the People
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A rendering of the Right Bank of the Seine — sans highway. Credit: Luxigon
After years of experimentation, the Paris City Council this week committed to the permanent conversion of two miles of the Georges Pompidou expressway along the River Seine into a waterfront park.
The 1960s expressway carried two lanes of traffic and about 43,000 vehicles a day along [...]
Why Are American Traffic Fatalities Rising So Quickly?
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What’s causing the steep rise in traffic fatalities? Graph: State Smart Transportation Initiative
Summer is barely over but this much is already clear: Traffic safety on American streets is taking a big step backward in 2016.
During the first five months of the year, traffic deaths rose 9 percent over 2015 levels, reports Bill Holloway at the State Smart Transportation Campaign. [...]
White House: Make Cities Affordable By Building for Walkability, Not Parking
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The Obama administration is taking on the crisis of rising rents in American cities, releasing a series of recommendations today to spur the construction of more affordable housing. Among the many ideas the White House endorses: allowing more multi-family housing near transit and getting rid of parking minimums.
Rising rents and stagnant incomes are putting pressure on [...]
The Threat of Racial Profiling in Traffic Enforcement
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The blue lines are streets where fatal traffic crashes occur in San Jose. There’s a lot of overlap with the areas in yellow, areas with large numbers of immigrants, low-income residents, and people of color. Map via Cyclelicious
Can urban police forces with histories of racial profiling and brutality be entrusted to carry out traffic enforcement as part [...]
Finally Some Relief for Memphis Bus Riders
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The shameful state of Memphis’s bus system is one of the more outrageous stories in American transit.
Buses in Memphis are in such bad shape, they’ve been known to catch fire. But help is on the way. Photo via Memphis Bus Riders Union
When we checked in with the advocates at the Memphis Bus Riders Union in March, they told us the local transit [...]
How Transit Agencies Can Offer Better Paratransit Service at Lower Costs
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Paratransit costs are rising fast. Graph: Brookings via Rudin Center
Paratransit service for people with disabilities is a big part of what modern transit agencies do, and it’s getting bigger all the time. As the population ages and more people rely on paratransit to get around, agencies need to get smart about how they provide the service [...]
Paris to Return Its Great Public Squares to the People
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Paris’s Place de la République, before and after a 2012 redesign. Before photo: Google Street View; after photo: Clem/Flickr
If you look at paintings from the pre-automotive era, Paris’s monumental public squares were full of people strolling comfortably. But over time, car traffic has consumed most of these squares.
Now, under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris is setting out to remake the city’s squares as great [...]
Highlights From Park(ing) Day Around the Globe
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Today is Park(ing) Day — a day to demonstrate how scarce street space can do so much more than store parked cars. Around the world, people are setting up camp in parking spots and turning them into public spaces.
Here are some of the fun and creative installations we’ve come across on social media. Just for fun, vote for your [...]
FHWA’s New Goal: Eliminating Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths in America
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Pedestrian and cyclist deaths account for a growing share of traffic fatalities in America. Can federal officials reverse the trend? Graph: FHWA
The Federal Highway Administration wants to eliminate pedestrian and cyclist fatalities “in the next 20 to 30 years.” In a new strategic plan [PDF], the agency calls for reducing serious injuries and deaths 80 percent in the [...]
No, Uber’s Not Going to Replace Buses, But It Can Complement Them
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Not a day goes by without a raft of stories about “new mobility” providers — ride-hailing companies like Uber or car-share services like Car2Go that have tapped into recent technological advances to provide new ways to get around.
Kansas City teamed up with the private vanpool service Bridj to link two neighborhoods that the bus network didn’t connect well. Image: [...]
How Sprawling Development Worsened the Flooding Crisis in Louisiana
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Development patterns that failed to adequately account for flood risk exacerbated the damage in Louisiana. Photo: Craig Colten
Thousands of people are still living in hotels and shelters following last month’s devastating floods in the Baton Rouge area. After nearly two feet of rain fell on central Louisiana, 13 people lost their lives and some 40,000 homes were damaged.
In a post at Network [...]