Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Traffic

Multi-family housing in the Twin Cities generates far fewer car trips per household than single-family homes. Photo: AlexiusHoratius/Wikimedia Commons

A Recipe for Cutting Traffic: Build More Apartments, Fewer Single-Family Homes

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 27, 2017 | 5 Comments

In the Twin Cities, people living in multi-family housing - apartments, condos, or any kind of dwelling that shares walls with its neighbors - travel by car 25 percent less than people who live in single-family homes. And they get around by walking, biking, and transit much, much more.

Transportation planners are still saying highway projects will reduce congestion, when research shows they generate more traffic. Photo: B137/Wikimedia Commons

The Science Is Clear: More Highways Equals More Traffic. Why Are DOTs Still Ignoring It?

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 21, 2017 | 41 Comments

Numerous studies have documented the phenomenon known as induced demand in transportation: Basically, if you build highway lanes, more drivers will come. And yet, transportation agencies rarely account for this effect when planning road projects.

Transportation Agencies Will Finally Measure the Movement of People, Not Just Cars

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 12, 2017 | 15 Comments

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in the quest for free-flowing vehicular traffic. The result is wider highways, more sprawl, and more people stuck in congestion. But this week U.S. DOT took an important step to change course, releasing new standards to guide how transportation agencies measure their performance. Advocates for transit and walkability say the policy is a significant improvement.

Would sharing for-hire trips cut traffic or lead more people to hire cars to get around? Photo: Ad Meskins, Creative Commons license.

No, Giant Shared Ubers Aren’t About to Solve City Traffic Problems

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 6, 2017 | 16 Comments

MIT researchers got a ton of press for a mathematical model that showed sharing for-hire vehicles could replace 85 percent of New York City's taxi fleet. But their conclusions were built on shaky assumptions, says economist Joe Cortright.

More Driving, More People Dying on America’s Streets

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 9, 2016 | 18 Comments

On Friday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration released new data [PDF] showing that traffic deaths are up. Up quite a bit. During the first nine months of 2015, 26,000 Americans were killed in traffic collisions — a 9.3 percent increase over the same period in 2014. According to Autoblog, that would work out to the highest one-year percentage […]

Modern Road Design in 7 Words: Cities Aren’t the Hoses, They’re the Gardens

By Michael Andersen, PlacesForBikes | Aug 10, 2015 | 4 Comments

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Every bike lane believer has heard a variation on this concern: Won’t our cities grind to a halt if we redesign our streets to have fewer passing lanes for cars? Last week, […]

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