Editor’s Note: The Texas Transportation Institute released their Urban Mobility Report today, a report you might have read about in a local story about congestion in your metro area today. An example from the Washington Post. The Urban Mobility Report is an important reminder that too many Americans are stuck without good options for efficient, [...]

A new report 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. “Smart Mobility for a 21st Century America” shows why improving efficiency through technology is critical as our population grows and ages, budgets tighten and consumer preferences shift.

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.

“The systemic nature of urban transportation is also the key to its solution. We need to stop focusing only on pieces of the problem: adding a new bridge, widening a road, putting up signs, establishing commuter lanes, encouraging carpooling or deploying traffic copters. Instead, we need to look at relationships across the entire system—and all [...]

Due to the impact of high gas prices, the economic slowdown, and a growing preference for public transportation and other options for getting around, congestion was down in 2008 over 2007, marking the first two-year decrease in congestion since the Texas Transportation Institute began keeping track in 1982. Today, TTI released their bi-annual Urban Mobility Report today on the state of congestion and traffic in the U.S.

The T4 America Blueprint has six overarching national objectives to provide a new vision and guide our federal transportation policy. If our transportation system is in need of a clear purpose, these six objectives are like the rudder that will steer the ship. To ensure that we can meet these objectives and measure our progress, [...]

A successful transportation system ensures that we arrive to work on time, moves goods quickly and efficiently, and employs millions of Americans in well-paying jobs. With our nation facing some of the greatest challenges in recent history, it’s particularly important that we make the right investments now to promote long-term economic growth for the future. In our ongoing series Breaking Down the Blueprint, we’ll describe why one of our six national transportation objectives is to improve economic competitiveness, transportation system efficiency, and workforce development opportunities.

From Wired Magazine via Aaron of Streetsblog comes this amazing map and video that shows a day of air travel over North America. Using data from the Federal Aviation Administration and a service called FlightView that tracks airline travel each day, Artist Aaron Koblin created this Google map that shows 24 hours of airline travel on August 12, 2008. What does this have to do with rail travel?

A new study by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning shows that while total miles of car travel in the Chicago area has dropped by nearly five percent since last year, congestion in the region has managed to get worse. (Chicago Tribune — Jon Hilkevitch)

LimeWire founder Mark Groton describes the need to develop a “Smart Para-Transit” transportation network to combat worsening congestion. (Streetsblog)