Today’s Headlines

Streetsblog noted a strangely narrow debate over electrification at this week’s Senate hearing on climate change — but interesting economic themes emerged as well. Here’s a rundown (WSJ)

Transit-oriented development plans run into resistance from banks, which are accustomed to offering commercial financing for parking-centric proposals (SL Trib)

D.C. bus drivers mount a safety-centric rebellion of sorts, declining to let express buses pass local buses (Yglesias, WaPo)

The White House’s stimulus law has done "little to increase" highway spending over pre-recession levels … if you think $2.6 billion is little (Wash Times)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Seattle's Third Street moves more than 100,000 bus commuters daily. Without cars, it could work even better for transit. Photo: Zach Heistand/Flickr

Why Seattle Should Boot Cars Off Its Busiest Street for Buses

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 22, 2017

Seattle is booming, and in downtown, transit has been absorbing most of the city's growth in travel. With the streets full during rush hour, the only way to increase capacity is to reallocate street space from cars to more compact modes like buses and bikes.

Portland’s Tilikum Crossing, a Bridge for the 21st Century

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 21, 2014

Tilikum Crossing, a new bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, is everything the hated Columbia River Crossing was not. While the CRC would have devoted billions to expanding car lanes and new highway interchanges, the Tilikum will serve only transit, biking, and walking. Matthew Nelson at Electric Urbanism says the fact that one bridge — the […]

The loss of bus ridership as service has been cut and speeds have slowed swamps recent gains in rail ridership. Photo via David Guo/Flickr

Los Angeles Bus Service Declined as Rail Expanded

By Yonah Freemark | Aug 23, 2017

Given the tens of billions of dollars that L.A. will spend on transit over the next few decades, it's all the more important to invest it in ways that will be useful and attract riders. But since 2014, ridership has been dropping.

Visionary Transpo Bureaucrats, Part 3: Joe Calabrese and Ryan Gravel

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 18, 2012

This is the third part in Streetsblog’s series profiling 11 officials who are bringing American cities and towns into the 21st century when it comes to transportation and planning policy. Read the earlier profiles in part one and part two. Joe Calabrese General Manager, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority In 2007, Greater Cleveland’s Regional Transit Authority (RTA) […]

BTS Releases Confusing, Erroneous Transit Stats

By Tanya Snyder | Aug 16, 2013

I was all set to write a feel-good story about how the latest report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics [PDF] shows that transit ridership is up and driving is down. I made up my mind to write that story before I even looked at the report, so sure was I that that was the […]

Transit Agencies Seeking Operating Support Meet Politics as Usual

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 21, 2011

For cash-strapped transit agencies in American cities, the federal response is limited to, “Here, have a few more buses.” Which is fine, unless you can’t afford to fuel up those buses or pay someone to drive them, as was the case for many transit agencies the last time gas prices were soaring and more people […]