Government Organizations
Basics
Will US DOT’s Self-Driving Car Rules Make Streets Safe for Walking and Biking?
This week, U.S. DOT released guidelines for self-driving cars, a significant step as regulators prepare for companies to bring this new technology to market. Autonomous vehicles raise all sorts of questions about urban transportation systems. It's up to advocates to ensure that the technology helps accomplish broader goals like safer streets and more efficient use of urban space, instead of letting private companies dictate the terms.
September 22, 2016
FHWA’s New Goal: Eliminating Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths in America
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 next 15 years, which would be an intermediate goal on the way to zero.
September 15, 2016
Engineers to U.S. DOT: Transportation Is About More Than Moving Cars
A trade group representing the transportation engineering profession thinks it's high time for American policy makers to stop focusing so much on moving single-occupancy vehicles.
August 26, 2016
Yes, Local Transportation Agencies Can Measure Their Climate Impacts
It's going to be a tough sell for those who claim that greenhouse gas performance measures for transportation can’t possibly work, when plenty of transportation agencies say it would be no problem.
August 24, 2016
Stark Divisions Between Dems and GOP on Climate Impacts of Transportation
How polarized are the two political parties on key questions about transportation policy and climate change? As you can imagine, the answer is "very."
August 22, 2016
State DOTs to Feds: We Don’t Want to Reveal Our Impact on Climate Change
Every year state DOTs receive tens of billions of dollars in transportation funds from the federal government. By and large, they can do whatever they want with the money, which in most states means wasting enormous sums on pork-laden highway projects. Now that U.S. DOT might impose some measure of accountability on how states use these funds, of course the states are fighting to keep their spending habits as opaque as possible.
August 18, 2016
Unless US DOT Changes Course, Building Protected Bikeways May Get Tougher
Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities connect high-comfort biking networks.
July 8, 2016
U.S. Traffic Fatalities Rising Fast — Especially Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths
Traffic fatalities in America hit a seven-year high in 2015, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for a disproportionate share of the alarming increase, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
July 1, 2016
4 Ways Road Builders Game the Numbers to Justify Highways
The people who make the case for highways often present themselves as unbiased technicians, simply providing evidence to an audience subject to irrational bias.
June 23, 2016
Will U.S. DOT Get Serious About Climate Change? Here’s Cause for Optimism.
Last fall, national environmental advocates sat down with officials from U.S. DOT to talk about how federal transportation policy can address climate change.
June 3, 2016