[Note: This post is from 2010 and has not been updated to reflect more recent developments, including the acquisition of WalkScore by Redfin.]
The Conservative Planner [blog site no longer active] has a thoughtful attack on WalkScore.com‘s methodology for calculating a simple “walkability score” for any neighborhood in America. He’s found several examples where WalkScore has given a high score to a place that’s clearly hostile to pedestrians when viewed on the ground. Continue Reading →
Is there anything wrong with calling a group of people “transit users” or “riders”? Is there anything wrong with calling yourself such a thing? Continue Reading →
In 1996, the City Administrator of West Palm Beach, Florida, Michael J. Wright, issued a directive to his staff on how to avoid biased language in the descriptions of transportation investments and policies. It’s four pages, sharply written, and may well be the smartest bureaucratic directive you’ll ever read. (Thanks to Peter Bilton at the Vorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers for pointing it out.) Continue Reading →
Here’s a simple thing that anyone can do to improve the prospects of sustainable transportation. When you hear a phrase that makes sense only from behind the wheel of a car, notice it, point it out, and don’t get drawn into saying it yourself. Continue Reading →
It seems to be, and I’m sure the New Republic’s Robert Puentes is right about the causes — (1) recession-driven unemployment (which both reduces commute demand and reduces discretionary income) plus (2) the epidemic of service cuts, which is proving yet again that not many riders are so “captive” that you can’t drive them away eventually. Both of those factors are well-observed correlations.
But it’s interesting that the New Republic chose to feature this map from the Brookings Institution’s interactive source, which shows total numbers of public transit commuters by metro area, as opposed to this one, which shows the percentage of all commutes that go by public transit, or what’s technically called the Journey-to-Work (JTW) mode share. Continue Reading →
The complete interview of me by the Buzzer — the agency blog of Vancouver’s TransLink — is now up on the Buzzer website, here. (I posted an earlier fragment of the interview here.)
Some of the material is specific to Vancouver, but maybe worth a look.
Bravo to South Africa for opening the first segment of the Gautrain,
linking Johannesburg’s Tombo airport (JHB) to Sandton and Rosebank, in
time for the World Cup. Sports events continue to be one of the best motivators for getting big infrastructure projects done.
But do you notice one rather basic fact missing from the Guardian’s otherwise thorough article on the subject? Continue Reading →
This is just funny. From the Los Angeles Times today, an article by David Zahniser on cuts to Commuter Express services run by the City of Los Angeles:
The agency also would phase out three Commuter Express routes: Line
575, which travels from Simi Valley to Warner Center; Line 413, which
moves from Van Nuys and North Hollywood to downtown; and Line 430, which
runs from Pacific Palisades to downtown Los Angeles.