Washington DC

A representative of the American Automobile Association was a keynote speaker at this week's National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., the annual gathering of bicycle advocates. There the organization debuted a heartwarming new video reminding drivers to share the road with cyclists.

In last week's Washington Post, Roger K. Lewis, an architect and professor at the University of Maryland, wrote an intriguing column suggesting that it's time for a big rethink of the concept of zoning, which he says is a relic of the early 20th century:

At the risk of repeating ourselves: The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) got it wrong again.

Could a congestion pricing program work in the DC region? Maybe. But first, officials would need to get the public on board -- no easy task. A report on the conclusions from five public forums, held in the region between October 2011 and January 2012, suggest that more and better transportation options need to be in place before a congestion charge is levied, so that commuters feel they have options.

Barack Obama has been as supportive of transit, biking, and walking as any president, but one of his most transformative actions may not have been any law or funding measure so much as simply getting elected. There's a compelling case to be made that Obama's election in 2008 led to significant changes in how people commute in the greater D.C. area.

The networks were busy tripping over themselves trying to point out all the "firsts" during yesterday's inauguration ceremonies. But when Barack and Michelle Obama stepped out of the presidential motorcade to greet well wishers on Pennsylvania Avenue, they missed a huge one: Obama is now the first U.S. president to walk down a bike lane during his inauguration.

It's well-established that density and mixed-use development reduce driving. Right? But strategies like those don’t work the same way everywhere, according to new research published in the Journal of Transport and Land Use. While in major cities, denser development is linked to lower rates of driving, researchers found that in smaller cities it might not have much effect at all. The research suggests that for smaller cities, a focus on reducing block sizes and improving street connectivity may be the most effective way to cut down on driving, though the authors caution that more research is needed to draw universal conclusions.

Chris Leinberger wears too many hats to count – real estate developer, George Washington University professor, Brookings fellow – but he has one message: “Walkable urbanism is the future.”

Why do traffic delays jump in September? Obviously, fewer people are on vacation. But it's not just commuters back to the grind getting to and from work. It's parents dropping their kids off at school, often with even less forgiving start times than an adult workday.