“We have to preserve level of service (LOS)”
The most important transportation measure most people have never heard of is a measure of drivers’ experience on the road and at intersections, based on the speed and number of cars using the road. The more cars a road moves at higher speeds, the better the LOS of a road—the holy grail for most state DOTs especially. Read more about how this measure leads to even worse outcomes >>
“Our street and road design standards don’t allow that”
Street design is dictated by several layers of standards and manuals written by federal, state, and local governments. If your local or state department of transportation (DOT) is telling you that “Our design standards don’t allow that,” they might be using the wrong guide, misunderstand the standards, or claiming they are bound by federal rules when it is within their own power to change. Learn about the power you have to influence how design standards are used >>
“The transportation models tells us that we have to ____”
Transportation planners and engineers base their work on forecasts of future travel loads and travel patterns. But decision-makers treat these highly subjective models as inviolable truths, rather than just one more piece of information to be used to shape a decision. Learn how these flawed models determine how projects get designed >>
Community Connectors: tools for advocates
You may be fighting against a freeway expansion. You may be trying to advance a Reconnecting Communities project to remove an old highway. You might be just trying to make wide, dangerous arterial roads a little safer for people to cross. This Community Connectors portal explains common terms, decodes the processes, clarifies the important actors, and inspires with helpful real-world stories.
Thank you
We are grateful to support from the Summit Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their support of various pieces of this ongoing project.Apply for capacity-building grants
Grants are available for 15 teams from small to mid-sized cities with plans to reconnect communities separated or harmed by transportation infrastructure.
Apply by July 15, 2023
