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May 4, 2009

Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul
Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkey
(Photo courtesy Streetsblog SF)
 

Highlights

  • Bike-Friendly Boston (Radio Boston)
    By Mark Navin -- Bike advocates say that making bicycling more of a transportation option for Boston workers, could be the answer to many of the city’s transportation issues.  But just a few years ago, Boston was named by one bike magazine as one of the least “bike-friendly” cities in the country.  The mayor and other public officials have been trying to change that perception, and new bike lanes and other infrastructure have gone in, or are being considered.  Including a bike sharing program, that would allow people without bikes to get from one place to another by borrowing a bike free or very cheaply.
Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul
Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkey
(Photo courtesy Streetsblog SF)
 

Highlights

  • Bike-Friendly Boston (Radio Boston)
    By Mark Navin -- Bike advocates say that making bicycling more of a transportation option for Boston workers, could be the answer to many of the city’s transportation issues.  But just a few years ago, Boston was named by one bike magazine as one of the least “bike-friendly” cities in the country.  The mayor and other public officials have been trying to change that perception, and new bike lanes and other infrastructure have gone in, or are being considered.  Including a bike sharing program, that would allow people without bikes to get from one place to another by borrowing a bike free or very cheaply.

     

  • MBTA Sidewalk Project Proves Costly, Unpractical (WBZ, Boston Herald)
    BOSTON -- It is a multi-million dollar mess -- a stretch of sidewalk on Huntington Avenue that may just be the most expensive in the city of Boston. The sidewalk was built to make the area look better. But now they have to fix it, and that could cost hundreds of thousands more. It may be pretty, but it's not practical. Six years ago the MBTA spent $22 million sprucing up T-stops along Huntington by putting in big trees and expensive brick sidewalks. But there's a problem.

     

  • Thumbs Up for Bigger, Better Bus Stops (Jamaica Plain Gazette)
    By John Ruch -- JAMAICA PLAIN -- The MBTA has won general approval for its proposal for fewer and better bus stops—including some with sections of widened sidewalks at least 60 feet long to act as mini T platforms—on the Route 39 corridor from the citizens’ working group reviewing route improvement ideas. The MBTA will now seek to tap part of $8 million in federal stimulus money to build the sidewalk exten-sions, T project director Erik Scheier said at an April 21 working group meeting at the Agassiz School.

     

  • What's Wrong With SAFETEA-LU -- and Why the Next Bill Must Be Better (Streetsblog)
    By Yonah Freemark -- This year’s reauthorization of the federal transportation funding bill will be one of the most important opportunities in history for the nation’s advocates of livable streets, sustainable transportation and smart growth. But it’s going to be a complicated process. We’d like to demystify it for you...

     

  • Why Conservatives Should Care About Transit (Public Discourse)
    Public transit and walkable neighborhoods are necessary for the creation of a country where families and communities can flourish.
    By David Schaengold -- When President Obama nominated Congressman Ray LaHood as his Secretary of Transportation, most media outlets paid attention long enough to note only that LaHood was a Republican from Illinois and the single pro-life member of Obama’s cabinet. Social conservatives, for their part, would rather have had an ally in the Department of Justice or the National Institute for Health. No one mentioned that it might be particularly appropriate that the cabinet’s one committed social conservative leads the Department of Transportation.

     

  • Boris Johnson unveils blueprint for London's 'cycling revolution' (Guardian)
    Plans would allow cyclists to pick up one of 6,000 bikes at the 400 docking stations planned for the capital by 2010
    LONDON -- Londoners will soon be able to hire bikes in the centre of town for short journeys, under plans announced today by the mayor, Boris Johnson. From 2010, the capital's cycle hire scheme should be open with around 6,000 bikes in central locations. Today, Transport for London (TfL) began applying for planning permission for the 400 docking stations, where people will be able to pick up and drop off bikes around central London.
     

"Streets"

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

  • Zipcar aims to sign up local governments, too (Boston Globe)
     
  • How to get 100 miles per gallon (CNN)
     

Transportation financing/Government

Parks

Development projects

  • Mayor sees Mission Hill lab project as bad fit (Boston Herald)
     
  • Panel: Government Center towers too tall (Boston Herald)
     
  • As details emerge, neighbors leery of South Brookline development plans (Brookline TAB)
     
  • Group wants BRA answers as BC hearing approaches (Bulletin Newspapers)
     

Land Use/Zoning

Out-of-state

National trends

  • Is America's love affair with the "exurbs" over? (Reuters)
     
  • Why Conservatives Should Care About Transit (Public Discourse)
     
  • Energy boss Steven Chu misses his bike (Grist)
     
  • Is the Obama Administration Poised to Push Transit? (Streetsblog)
     
  • City bike-sharing picks up speed (CNN)
     
  • What's Wrong With SAFETEA-LU -- and Why the Next Bill Mus Be Better (Streetsblog)
     
  • President Wants 'People To Live In Communities Where They Don't Always Have to Be in an Automobile' (The Infrastructurist)
     
  • GM's New Road Map: Partial Nationalization (Washington Post)
     
  • Commutes Speed Up as Fewer Drive (Wall Street Journal)
     
  • Are buses the new way to go? (USA Today)
     
  • Bringing Efficiency to the Infrastructure (New York Times)
     
  • Study: $50B need to fix aging rail transit systems (Boston Herald)
     
  • United States of Transit Cuts (CNN)
     

International news