Smarter transportation case study #7: Bike sharing program in Pottstown, Pa.
A first-in-the-region bikesharing program has increased transportation options and improved public health in this town 40 miles outside Philadelphia. Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs. (From our series of 14 case studies.)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will award $100 million in grants for livable and sustainable communities
For the first time in the agency’s history, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $100 million in grants today to help communities become more livable and sustainable, by connecting housing to jobs and transportaiton options. The 45 regional winners from communities small and large across the country embody precisely the kind of innovation and creativity federal policy should be supporting.
Smarter transportation case study #6: Managed lanes with peak-period transit discounts in Minneapolis
In Minneapolis, priority lanes and differential pricing have cleared a key interstate during peak hours and allowed more commuters to utilize public transit. Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs. (From our series of 14 case studies.)
Smarter transportation case study #5: Traffic signal optimization; Portland, Oregon
Portland officials improved the timing and coordination of traffic signals in 17 key intersections, resulting in lower auto emissions and less traffic. Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs.
Smarter transportation case study #4: Dynamic Parking Pricing, San Francisco
SFpark has reduced idle driving time and cut congestion by making it easier to track and locate parking in San Francisco. In 2009, 30 percent of driving San Francisco consisted of drivers circling around the block looking for parking. Now, city officials are pursuing an intelligent parking-pricing model called “SFpark” to cut down on the wasted time and fuel that too often results from this elusive parking search. (From our 14 case studies on smarter transportation.)
Smarter transportation case study #3: Specialized Customer Information: Pittsburgh, Pa.
The ACCESS program integrates non-profit and for-profit transit providers to maximize service for older residents and the disabled. Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how these existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs.
UPDATED: T4 America sends letter to New Jersey Governor Christie on ARC Tunnel
You may have heard the news that the ARC tunnel project in New Jersey is on fragile ground. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says his office has not made a final decision yet, but he is expected to make some kind of announcement at 1pm press conference this afternoon. Transportation for America prepared a letter to the Governor’s office, touting the “critical importance this project has to the northeast and the nation in general.”
Smarter transportation case study #2: SmartBus Project, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chattanooga’s SmartBus project has produced significant savings and made buying tickets and finding buses easier than ever. Our new report — including these 14 case studies — on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs.
Smarter transportation case study #1: Yellowstone LINX Cooperative
The LINX program has integrated transportation providers in 27 counties for an easy-to-use and more seamless network for riders in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Our new report on smarter mobility demonstrates how existing and emerging technologies can squeeze more capacity from over-burdened highways, help commuters avoid traffic delays and expand and improve transportation options, all while saving money and creating jobs. These 14 case studies demonstrate the community benefits smart mobility solutions are giving regions, cities, and businesses.
Smarter transportation case studies — innovation from around the world
When a resource is scarce, the first step is always to make sure that you’re using that resource to its fullest. A quick glance at a congested road, a street with no parking or a jam-packed morning rush hour train might tell you that there’s no excess capacity going unused, but is that really true? While we push for a greater investment in transportation overall to expand options for all Americans, are there ways to better use the resources that we’ve already got? This series of 14 case studies from around the U.S. and the world demonstrate the community benefits smart mobility solutions are giving regions, cities, and businesses.
Two former secretaries of transportation stress renewed focus on infrastructure, better ways to pay for it
Former secretaries of transportation Norman Mineta and Samuel Skinner want less talk on infrastructure and more action. In a briefing on Capitol Hill yesterday, this bipartisan duo that both worked in Republican administrations called for increased attention on the nation’s infrastructure, more accountability and wisdom for how we choose what projects to fund and declared the existing gas tax an insufficient funding source for the future.
Debunking the congestion index used to justify the policies that keep us stuck in traffic
The cycle is familiar by now. A study tells us what we all know: our roads are congested. We pour billions into new roads and lanes to “reduce congestion.” Then the study comes out two years later and just as before, our roads are still congested. There’s a call for new roads, new roads open up, we drive further and further and congestion goes up. But a significant new report from CEOs for Cities suggests that there’s a fundamental flaw in that study.
Once a critic, now a supporter, Ohio Rep. helps make complete streets bill bipartisan
Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) probably learned the hard way earlier this year that safe, accessible streets for bikers, walkers and all users don’t tend to have any party affiliation, and he is to be commended for proving his support for complete streets by signing onto the House complete streets bill last week, becoming its first Republican cosponsor.
DOT poised to move on a long-term transportation bill in 2011?
When President Obama made his announcement on Labor Day about investing in infrastructure, most media outlets focused in directly on the $50 billion amount that would be spent up front to jumpstart infrastructure investment — something we already noted last week. But he also talked about the need for a reformed long-term transportation reauthorization, the full six-year bill that would provide certainty to job creation and the economy. So the million dollar question has been, when will we see this bill?
American Lung Association: smart growth saves lives, improves health
Photo courtesy of Compass Blueprint There are many reasons smarter growth makes sense. By building more sustainably and closer to where people work and shop and plan, we reduce hours stuck in traffic and make it easier to reach life’s necessities. But there is something even more important at stake: our health. According to new […]
Don’t let transportation get lost in the political shuffle; send a letter to your local paper
When President Obama announced his vision on Labor Day for investing in 21st century infrastructure, he put our country on the right path toward smart transportation reform. But his vision immediately came under fire from many of the usual suspects who prefer the current system of earmarks and oil industry tax breaks. We need to respond to these attacks on transportation reform. Take 5 or 10 minutes and write a letter to the editor of your local paper today.
USA Today on infrastructure spending: what do Americans want?
USA Today had a timely graphic up yesterday, considering the continuing media coverage around President Obama’s recent proposal for infrastructure spending and a reformed long-term transportation bill. Though we can’t see the rest of the questions or the context, it affirms a few things we already know about Americans’ attitudes about transportation. They want more accountability, safer streets, and more transportation options so seniors can maintain their independence and low wage workers can get to jobs.
National Geographic on Dangerous by Design
We mentioned this on Twitter when the issue came out back in July, but National Geographic had a nice one-page feature on Dangerous by Design, our study from 2009 ranking metro areas on their relative danger to those on foot and bike, focusing on Florida’s overall risk based on having 4 of the top 10 most dangerous metros. In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community, and it’s high time that more attention was paid to this preventable loss of life that we far too often ignore or simple believe to be inevitable.
Access denied: gaining a disabled person’s perspective
We’ve talked a bit here for nearly two years about the need to make our streets safe and accessible for all users — whether young, old, walkers, bikers, drivers, or wheelchair users. Almost every time we post pictures like this or this showing inaccessible conditions on our streets, it’s a reminder of how shocking it […]
LA residents rally for transit, jobs and an economic boost for region
Thousands rallied last Friday at the Los Angeles City Hall to tell Washington to help speed up LA’s 30/10 Plan –- a plan to build 12 major local transit projects in 10 years rather than 30. The plan would spur economic growth and protect the environment, create 166,000 jobs, ease congestion, and reduce air pollution and dependency on oil.
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