Via CleanTechnica. $200 billion in funding for public transportation could make a big difference in the air everyone breathes. It could make a difference in the day-to-day mobility of many travelers. As US elections near, there is a definite tone within the US political system. This election cycle grasps for our vote. I think about all the money spent …
$200 Billion In Funding For Public Transportation Read More »
DC has been growing its bicycling bragging rights and swagger over the past few years. New commuting data just add to that. Bicycle commuting in the city more than doubled between 2000 and 2011. Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog Capitol Hill writes: In DC, cyclists now make up 3.5 percent of commuters, a big jump since the …
If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green spirit to turn the city around. National Geographic recently covered the transformation of this town …
How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life Read More »
There’s been a pretty significant transformation on public transit in the past decade or less. Whereas riders used to start up a conversation with complete strangers on a regular basis in the past, more and more riders are plugged into their iPods, iPhones, iPads, or other electronic gadgets and stay in their own world despite …
Conversation Cars on Public Transit: A “Modest Proposal” Read More »
Intercity buses are actually extremely efficient modes of transport, even beating rail. Apparently, they are becoming more popular with the public these days as well. They were the fastest-growing mode of intercity transport for the third year in a row last year, according to a new report by DePaul University researchers called “The Intercity Bus: …
Intercity Bus: Fastest-Growing Form of Transit in U.S. Read More »
Know when the first subway system was launched? And where? Tony Long of Wired does. He recently wrote an interesting post on the history of subway systems around the world, starting with a little bit on the first subway system, which was launched this month in 1863. Here’s the intro: 1863: London inaugurates the world’s …
Chicagoans (yes, that would be residents of Chicago) love public transit. Even non-users support mass transit (maybe because it saves them a ton of time). But candidates running for Mayor of Chicago (election to be on Feb. 22) are hardly mentioning this topic… or transportation, in general, one of the most critical day-to-day issues for …
Transit: Huge Issue for Chicago Voters, Not on Potential Mayors’ Agenda Read More »
There’s a great piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the need for Atlanta to get moving on better public transit and catch up to other cities it was once leading on this topic. Of course, Atlanta’s low density is one of the big problems hindering public transit use and efficiency, but there are solutions to …
Atlanta Must Get Moving on Public Transit.. Will It? Read More »
The mobility of Caltrain’s 40,000 daily riders on the Peninsula and the South Bay could drastically suffer under deep service cuts being considered to close a $30 million budget gap, but a movement to get the commuter rail service agency out of the red and on a path toward long-term sustainability is gaining momentum. “Everyone …
Caltrain Threatened with Service Cuts, Citizens to the Rescue? Read More »
If you’re looking for a good example of thoughtful, place-based planning for transit-oriented development (TOD) in a location not yet known for it, you could do a lot worse than Connecting El Paso, a 264-page tour de force vision for parts of the west Texas border city. The plan was unanimously approved earlier this week by the El …
Well, that’s how much you’ll save if you’re the average American. Could be a little less or a little more depending on where you live. The point of the matter is, however, you can save a ton by riding your local public transit. (I would also note that you can use your time on transit …
Almost 50 years ago, streetcars in Washington, D.C. stopped running and most of their tracks were removed. Now they’re back and ready for a revival, with parts of the first two lines slated to open next spring. In this post, we talk to Dan Tangherlini, the former DDOT director under Mayor Anthony Williams, who committed to building one of …
New Transit Projects for 2011 A comprehensive list of transit projects scheduled to start construction or open in 2011. “Streetcar lines dominate the nation’s new transit construction landscape, but this year only light and commuter rail lines will open for service.” NYC Tries ‘Rapid’ Buses in Bid to Cut Transit Costs The city’s much-maligned bus …
In my graduate studies in city and regional planning, one thing became very obvious to me: cities, by definition and at their best, are densely-populated places. However, with the rapid rise of automobile use, North American cities have been on a low-density trend. Think about it, big vehicles for every individual require tons of big …
Light Rail & Streetcars Becoming More Popular, Transforming Cities Read More »
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) releases figures regarding how much people save by riding transit in the U.S. every month in its Transit Savings Report. It calculates how much the average American saves as well as how much an average resident of twenty of the country’s largest cities (the cities with the most transit …
Cars have gotten a hugely disproportionate bulk of transportation funds in the U.S. for decades, over half a century even. But with more and more people realizing this is bad for our health, bad for our pocketbooks, bad for the environment, and bad for the vibrancy of our cities, this is (slowly) changing. One of the …
If you are a regular reader here on EcoLocalizer, you know that I am a big fan of sustainable transportation — bikes, buses, trains, etc. So, when I came across this story, you can imagine I got a big kick out of it. Though I don’t think I would ever try to steal a bus …
New York City Bus & Train Thief Is Addicted To Stealing NYC Transit Read More »
Ever wonder how much kinetic energy is created from trains braking? Me neither,.. until I found out about a cool new pilot project in Philadelphia where the energy created from subway trains braking will be used for some of the transit authority’s power needs and may also be sold back to the electric grid. How …
Philadelphia Subway Trains to Start Producing Electricity from Braking Read More »
Animation of the upcoming Transbay Transit Center (aka Grand Central of the West) that just broke ground on Wednesday.
With bike weddings, bike parades, hundreds of naked bicyclists, bike fashion shows, popular & interesting cargo bikes, and travelling bike pubs, Portland is #3 on this great bicycle city photo tours list. [social_buttons] Portland has great bicycle facilities (colored bike lanes, bike boxes at intersections, great bike signs, off-road bicycle paths, etc.), a large number …
#3 Portland, Oregon (USA): Great Bicycle City Photo Tour Read More »
