Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.
Ben Fried
Recent Posts
Op-Ed: Learning from Nashville’s Transit Failure
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Ballot measures can expand and improve transit. But if Nashville is any example, it can backfire. Here are some lessons all cities can learn.
Uber and Lyft Are Overwhelming Urban Streets, and Cities Need to Act Fast
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Contrary to the story Uber, Lyft, and their peers like to tell, ride-hailing services are not reducing traffic in American cities. Nor will they, even if they meet their goals for converting solo passenger trips to shared rides, according to new research from transportation analyst Bruce Schaller.
Steve Bannon Would Love to Team Up With Chuck Schumer on Infrastructure
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Trump advisor Steve Bannon's comments to the Hollywood Reporter about infrastructure are worth a closer look. It helps explain why Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are making a grave mistake when they line up to help Trump implement this plan.
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi Are Falling for Infrastructure Propaganda
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We’re going to see a lot of stories about Donald Trump and infrastructure in the next few months, and this reporting will be heavily influenced by a message that has been honed and perfected by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It will be important to see through these arguments and view the Trump infrastructure plan with clear eyes.
Looking to Quito’s BRT as a Model for Milwaukee
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With Milwaukee looking to implement a BRT system connecting downtown to the suburb of Wauwatosa, Ken Smith of Urban Milwaukee was eager to get a look at how BRT works in Quito, when he was in the city for the recent UN Habitat III summit. The system impressed him, and Smith wonders if Milwaukee will be able to duplicate […]
Democrats Who Embrace the Trump Infrastructure Plan Are Suckers
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As painful as it is to deal with the reality of a Donald Trump presidency, if you think highways and sprawl are a terrible mistake, the time to mobilize is now. One of the first things on Trump’s agenda, after dismantling Obama’s social and environmental legacy to the greatest extent possible, is a huge round of infrastructure spending. […]
What Changed Yesterday, and What Didn’t
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America just elected Donald Trump, who got a foothold in national politics by fanning a conspiracy about Barack Obama’s country of origin, who ran a campaign premised on a naked appeal to racist anger and resentment, who shredded every norm of conduct on his way to the presidency. He’s going to occupy the White House […]
Before You Get Too Excited About Seattle’s Big Transit Expansion…
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Read Doug Trumm’s post at the Urbanist about Sound Transit’s $50 billion, 25-year expansion plan, known as ST3, which the agency revealed yesterday. It’s ambitious in scope, but will the new lines meet the region’s most pressing transit needs? Piecing together the project list has been an exercise in regional politics, since voters will decide this November whether […]
Rescuing New Ideas From the Purgatory of Old Bureaucracy
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Your city may have a complete streets policy. Your mayor may say all the right things about making streets work for walking, biking, and transit. But if the inner workings of government — city budgets, agency protocols — aren’t set up to enable big street design breakthroughs, all you’ll get are scattershot improvements. Writing for Network blog Broken Sidewalk, Chris […]
It’s Happening: Construction of Maryland’s Purple Line Set to Start This Year
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Yesterday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that a contractor has been selected to build the 14-mile Purple Line light rail in DC’s Maryland suburbs. It’s a milestone and a major relief following Hogan’s long history of brinkmanship with the project. Kelli Raboy at Greater Greater Washington posted the happy news: After Marylanders elected Governor Larry Hogan […]
A Car-Free Downtown and Other Ideas From Portland’s Mayoral Debate
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It’s always interesting to see what mayoral candidates say about streets and transportation in a public debate. Who’s done their homework on transportation policy? Who understands in their gut why better streets for walking, biking, and transit are good for the city? Which candidates are willing to take a stand on these issues while making their case to voters? Most […]
Northeast Ohio to State DOT: Road Expansions Getting Out of Hand
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If you could point to one aspect of American transportation policy that’s more disastrous than all the others, expanding highways and roads to the point of absurdity is probably it. In northeast Ohio, cities like Cleveland and Akron were hollowed out by highway building, but the state DOT still privileges road expansion instead of maintenance or investment in transit, […]