December 29, 2009

Wheelchair-accessible taxi
New wheelchair-accessible taxi in NYC
(Photo courtesy New York Times)

Highlights

  • Longfellow Bridge in the 21st Century (Boston Courant) [pdf]
    By State Rep. Marty Walz -- Walking across the Longfellow Bridge is one of my favorite things to do. The views of Boston and Cambridge are magnificent, while the chance to experience the wide-open sky is a welcome change from the cityscapes that dominate my days. On both sides of the bridge, however, are serious safety hazards that the state is failing to rectify.
  • Residents, officials urge state to improve Rte. 9 pedestrian environment (Planning Livable Communities)
    The Commonwealth plans to do some sidewalk improvements along Route 9 as part of a Stimulus-funded resurfacing project in Natick and Framingham. However, the plans also call for eliminating some existing grassy strips between blacktop sidewalks and the roadway, instead relying on painted lines to mark walkways, Department of Transportation officials said at a public hearing tonight [Dec 23] in Framingham.
  • What is Balanced Transportation? (Brookline Perspective)
    It has been said that Peter Furth was ousted from his seat on Brookline's Transportation Board because he was "too focused on bicycles". Not even getting into the truth about Professor Furth's bona fide credentials as a world class transportation engineer, let's just stop for a minute and think about what saying that someone is "too focused on bicycles" to be on the Transportation Board means.
  • Bay Area Advocates Unveil New VMT Reduction Incentive for Developers (Streetsblog SF)
    By Matthew Roth -- Among the many strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and attendant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private vehicles, Bay Area smart growth advocate TransForm has developed a new certification called GreenTRIP to encourage architects, developers, and municipal officials to build transit-oriented development and implement transportation demand management (TDM) solutions for future tenants [PDF].
  • Smarter Money Would Be On Main Street (Hartford Courant)
    By John Norquist -- After the federal bailouts were faulted for enriching Wall Street and for proving rather anemic in creating jobs, the president and congressional Democrats sent a message in choosing a name for the jobs bill they introduced this month. "It is with great enthusiasm that we present our 'Jobs for Main Street' legislation," Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last week just before the bill passed. It's progress this time that the funds will be flowing away from, not toward, Wall Street. And the legislation will keep some people working, especially in local and state government. But will funds from this bill really reach Main Street, as its name implies? Well, not so much.
  • Risky cycling rarely to blame for bike accidents, study finds (Guardian)
    Cyclists disobeying stop signal or wearing dark clothing at night rarely cited in collisions causing serious injury
    By Peter Walker -- A tiny proportion of accidents involving cyclists are caused by riders jumping red lights or stop signs, or failing to wear high-visibility clothing and use lights, a government-commissioned study has discovered. The findings appear to contradict a spate of recent reports speculating that risky behaviour by riders, such as listening to music players while cycling, could be behind a near 20% rise in cyclist deaths and serious injuries in the second quarter of this year.

"Streets"

  • Longfellow Bridge in the 21st Century (Boston Courant) [pdf]
  • For Wayland couple, noise from the Pike is part of the family (Boston Globe)

Walking

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

  • Interactive Web map tracks stimulus spending in Mass. (Boston Globe)
  • Responses re: Dec 17- Bicycle advocate ousted from Brookline's Transportation Board (Brookline TAB)
    • Letter: Selectman's decision may send 'anti-bicycle message' (Brookline TAB)

Parks

  • New Balance partners with state to help remove snow along Charles River (Cambridge Chronicle)

Development projects

Out-of-state

National trends

International news

  • Risky cycling rarely to blame for bike accidents, study finds (Guardian)
  • E-bikes keep China's bicycle culture alive amid an onslaught of cars (Washington Post)
  • A Pro-Bicycle City Faces Trouble Promoting Electric Cars (New York Times)
  • Do cyclists need restricting? (Guardian)
  • Holland's Plan to Cut Traffic: A Tax on Every Kilometer Driven (TIME)
  • NZ policewoman allows naked cycling (BBC)
  • Are London Heathrow's ULTra Pods the Future of Transit (Transport Politic)