Why Jackson, MS needs better transit and complete streets
As you’ve (hopefully) seen on the front page, we’ve been asking for your photos of anything transportation-related in your community, and you’ve responded with photos of new light rail vehicles in Phoenix, bike boxes in Portland, Safe Routes to School in Ohio, and many others that are being spotlighted on the front page and in the sidebar just to your right.
But we especially wanted to share this story and photos we received yesterday from Dr. Scott Crawford in Jackson, MS. Hit the jump to continue.
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December 8, 2008Introducing the Streetsblog Network
From the confines of Washington, DC, it can be easy to forget that transportation is ultimately a local issue for each of us. While the decisions made in Washington reverberate across the country, we ultimately care most about the quality of the streets we use, the quality of our commute, the choices for travel that have (or do not have), and whether or not our state or city has wisely invested in transportation. So how does an interested advocate living on Main Street — from Maine to Oregon — connect to the others locally who care about 21st Century transportation?
Enter the newly-formed Streetsblog Network, brought to you by the same team that publishes Streetsblog NYC and LA. You may already know Streetsblog as the voice of livable streets and sustainable transportation in New York City, where they work hard to demonstrate how a city “enjoyed best on foot,” continues to design their streets principally for cars.
Transportation For America has partnered with them to help bring you the Streetsblog Network. The network pulls together more than 150 blogs (and growing!) from across the country that focus on the same issues of sustainable transportation and livable streets and cities.
Every member of the network is someone who blogs from a local perspective. We’re writing about different cities, but we’re talking to similar audiences and working towards similar goals. Together, we reach a weekly national readership that must number well into the hundreds of thousands.
…If there is going to be a grassroots movement for change in local and federal transportation policy, then our readers will be among the most active and knowledgeable participants in that movement. By connecting with each other and the T4America campaign, we can have a substantial impact.
Each day, they scan the network and pull out a top story for everyone to read, along with 4-6 other top picks that are worth highlighting. There’s a Google map that you can use to find the blogs in your area, and all of the rest of the posts are continually updated below the map. You can also tag photos on Flickr or videos on YouTube to share on the site.
If you’re running a blog that would be a great addition, visit the site and find out more information about joining the network. And by becoming a member of the network, you’ll get frequent special news releases and other items directly from us at Transportation For America that you can highlight on your own blog.
Visit the Streetsblog Network, find the blogs in your area, and get more engaged today.
November 20, 2008Americans overwhelmingly support new transportation investments
The results of November’s Presidential election may have represented a change for our country, but at least one trend at the ballot box remained unchanged from the past few elections: Taxpayers across the country approved a bevy of ballot measures to expand public transportation, commuter rail, bike and pedestrian access, and other innovative transportation projects.
It’s perhaps most telling that even in a time of brutal economic crises and expensive gas, taxpayers voted for 14 initiatives that will raise their taxes. In short, we seem to be collectively tired of business-as-usual — more highways, all the time, resulting in only more congestion, with no coherent vision for world-class transportation in our cities and communities — and we are willing to pay out of our own pockets for solutions that can get us out of traffic and keep us moving. Hit the jump for the details.
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October 15, 2008Governors call for new approach to transportation
Sarah Karush of the Associated Press examined Transportation for America’s plan to rebuild our economy with smart investment in infrastructure, and found support from Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. The entire article is printed below.
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October 10, 2008Reinventing American Transportation
Transportation for America’s policy director Mariia Zimmerman pushed for a 21st century infrastructure system in an op-ed for PBS this week, outlining a five-point plan for making our transportation system cleaner, more affordable, and better suited to meet the needs of Americans. The entire article is posted below, and is also available on PBS’ website.
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September 22, 2008T4 Lobby Maps Its Route
The following article, which was written by T.R. Goldman for the newspaper Roll Call, focuses on the Transportation for America Campaign and its nationwide push for a better transportation program. The story is posted below in its entirety and can also be viewed here by subscribers to Roll Call.
It comes around every half-dozen or so years, but this time, when the gargantuan transportation bill is written, “smart growth” advocates are determined to play a prominent role — muscling aside the bill’s traditional highway heavy hitters.
How prominent a role, however, depends in part on whether the price of gasoline continues to hover around $4 a gallon, a price point that has suddenly made Americans acutely conscious of how much they drive.
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August 29, 2008City Curbs on Cars: Now Accelerating
Across the country, people are learning that city streets are meant for everyone — not just automobiles — and are pushing to make our roads safer, friendlier, and more accessible. (Citiwire — Neal Peirce)
July 29, 2008Gas prices drive push to reinvent America’s suburbs
Gas prices and the housing crisis have jolted Americans awake — and made many reconsider whether their suburbs should be built as car-centered, sprawling landscapes or walkable, cohesive communities. (USA Today — Haya El Nasser)
July 15, 2008$4 gas helping revitalize small towns
Turned off by the cost of long drives to big box stores or shopping centers, residents in small towns are helping businesses in their local communities by staying closer to home. (Associated Press)
July 9, 2008America’s love affair fades as the car becomes burden of suburbia
Americans’ patience with automobiles is drying up, but the nature of our nation’s infrastructure — which has largely been designed for driving — makes it hard to adjust. (Observer — Paul Harris)
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- Why Jackson, MS needs better transit and complete streets
December 17, 2008 - Introducing the Streetsblog Network
December 8, 2008 - Americans overwhelmingly support new transportation investments
November 20, 2008 - Governors call for new approach to transportation
October 15, 2008 - Reinventing American Transportation
October 10, 2008
- Why Jackson, MS needs better transit and complete streets
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