StreetNews 6/2/2008
Highlights
- Fatal crash on Green Line (
Globe,
Herald,
Metro,
TAB)
An outbound Green Line trolley crowded with rush-hour
passengers
slammed into the back of another trolley along an idyllic stretch of
track in Newton yesterday evening, a collision that caused the two
trains to derail, threw commuters from their seats, and killed the MBTA
operator who was driving the second train. (More coverage below...)
- A shock on parking, then the debate: How many spots, and for
whom? (
Globe,
TAB)
In this town, almost everybody has an opinion on parking.
But the topic of cars and traffic congestion came under renewed
scrutiny in the debate leading up to Wednesday's unexpected passage of
a bill that reduces parking-space requirements for a development on
Route 9.
- Share the road: Somerville marks out new bike lanes (
Journal)
Mayor Joe Curtatone today announced that the city has completed
the
installation of over one mile of bicycle lane markings on Beacon Street
from Oxford Street to the Cambridge line (near Inman Square) and on
Broadway from Packard Street to Powder House Square. [...] The new bike
lanes
represent a ten-fold increase in the length of bike lanes in Somerville.
- John Pucher: Cycling for everyone (
Commute Tips Blog)
This is a great video of a presentation by John Pucher,
professor
of planning and policy development at Rutgers University, speaking to
an audience at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In his entertaining and enlightening presentation, Dr. Pucher makes
many convincing arguments for the benefits of bicycling and illustrates
many successful bicycling improvements developed in the Netherlands,
Germany, and Denmark.
- It's economics stupid... (
Place in the Urban Space)
Sprawl has always been enabled by the confluence of a number of
factors
that economists would say generate spillover costs or free rider
effects. These factors included a regulatory and financial regime that
favored suburban development, the construction of roads and other
infrastructure by federal and state governments, enabling cheaper costs
for new construction on greenfield land, and cheap gasoline.
"Streets"
- The exodus starts from faulty roads (
Globe) - Crews work to replace BU Bridge sidewalks (
TAB) - New hurdles await Tobin Bridge traffic (
Globe) - Woman is struck by car in crosswalk: Driver arrested in West
Roxbury (
Globe,
Walking
- Pounding the pavement for sidewalks (
Globe)
- The curious incident of the missing crosswalk (
Globe)
Bicycling
- Share the road: Somerville marks out new bike lanes (
Journal)
- Cycling surges in Mass, fueled by high gas prices (
Herald, WBZ)
- A crash course for owners trying to keep their bike healthy (
Globe)
- An ounce of prevention (
Globe)
Transit
- Charting a new course (
Globe)
- T Q+A with General Manager Dan Grabauskas (
Metro)
- Blaze on T tracks disrupts commute (
Globe,
Herald)
- Responses to last week's articles about MBTA police and fare
evasion:
- Fare-evasion evasion (
Globe)
- Police inaction sends the wrong message (
Globe)
- Not a job for plain clothes (
Globe)
- Scofflaws' fiscal impact is stunning (
Globe)
- T to face debt dilemma (
Metro)
- Train track tragedy spurs pols to action (
Item of Lynn)
- Aldermen still not sure about Green Line shed slated for
Somerville (
Journal)
- Green Line crash:
- Fatal crash on Green Line (
Globe,
Herald,
Metro,
TAB)
- Riding the "T": More Than Just Grabbing a Seat on the Train (
- Critics blast T for missed 'warnings' (
Herald)
- Crash not likely to cost MBTA chief his job (
Herald)
- Another black eye for battered MBTA (
Herald,
Metro)
- Officials swarm T crash scene (
Globe,
Metro)
- Tragedy at rush hour (
Globe)
- Kin, friends mourn woman killed in Green Line accident (
Globe)
- 'He was so brave to stay' (
Herald)
- Riders eye T safety after crash (
Herald)
- Pols: T expansion puts safety at risk (
Herald)
- Train sped before crash, NTSB says (
Globe,
Herald)
- Escape from gas woes: More take T, car pool, and board ferries (
Herald)
- MegaBus joins Hub road show (
Globe)
Cars/Parking
- Report ranks Mass. drivers 48th in U.S. (
Metro,
Globe)
- Airport cabs must use transponders (
Metro)
- A shock on parking, then the debate: How many spots, and for
whom? (
Globe,
TAB)
Parks
- A bump in the road for recreational trail: Natick stretch stalls
as Framingham picks up speed (
Globe)
- Drivers need warning of Esplanade events (
Globe)
Development projects
- A new perspective on City Hall (
Globe)
- City Hall: Wish you were here (
Globe)
- Builder scales back Boston rent-a-dorm tower (
Herald)
- BC expansion, housing, stadium up for discussion again (
TAB)
Transportation financing/Government
- Editorial: 37 ways tolls are inequitable (
Daily News)
- Mayor suspends public works director: Aide paid while living in
Venezuela (
Globe)
Out-of-state
- 'Park' Slope is unmoved (
Paper)
- Time for state to invest in mass transit (
Telegraph)
- A Smoother Ride for Cycling in the City (
Gazette)
- One-way Streets Could Become Two-way in D.C. (
- Congress Eyes a Rocket Train To Washington (
York Sun)
- Video: More people use public transport (
Angeles Times)
- National Bike Bill passes U.S. House vote (
- Balancing desires and agendas between individuals and a community
(
Place in the Urban Space)
- Suit targets air quality along freeways (
Angeles Times)
- Car-Free In Hartford: There are alternatives to hitting the
highway (Hartford
Advocate)
- A Community Plan for the 'Highway to Nowhere' (
Gazette)
- High Gas Prices Cause Bike Shortages in N.Y. (
York Sun)
National trends
- As gas goes up, driving goes down (
News)
- Wake Up, America. We're Driving Toward Disaster (
Post)
- Tired of pricey gas, police pump up bike patrols (
News)
- Enjoy Summer Even When You're Stuck At Work (
- Truth or Consequences (
York Times)
- It's economics stupid... (
Place in the Urban Space)
- Urban Areas on West Coast Produce Least Emissions Per Capita,
Researchers Find (
York Times)
- Climate Concerns Shape the Cities of Tomorrow (
News)
- John Pucher: Cycling for everyone (
Commute Tips Blog)
International news
- Think Gas is High? Try Europe (
- IKEA Idea With Velorbis Bikes (
- "Here We Are. Let's Take The Gardiner" (