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April 17, 2009

Velib bicyclists
Bicyclists using the Velib bike-share in Paris
(Photo courtesy Boston Globe)
 

Highlights

  • Officials defend pedestrian-only status of Downtown Crossing (Boston Globe)
Velib bicyclists
Bicyclists using the Velib bike-share in Paris
(Photo courtesy Boston Globe)
 

Highlights

  • Officials defend pedestrian-only status of Downtown Crossing (Boston Globe)
    Pedestrian-only format backed
    By Milton J. Valencia -- BOSTON -- Defending the pedestrian-only zone in the center of Downtown Crossing, city officials said last night that they will increase the ticketing of cars illegally parking and driving through the bustling downtown shopping district. Promising to increase enforcement, fix signs, and review traffic patterns, officials remained committed last night to keeping the neighborhood as a pedestrian mall, saying it is the best strategy to cater to residents while providing a steady stream of foot traffic for businesses.
    Related: City at a Downtown crossroads (Boston Herald)

     

  • Is Boston Ready For A Revolution? (Boston Globe)
    Can Boston really go from being the worst city for bicycling to the best? The mayor and his spitfire bike czar think so, and they're determined to launch the biggest bike-share program in the country. But as one visit to Paris reveals, bike share is about more than cool racks and shiny two-wheelers.
    By Tom Matlack -- BOSTON -- I leave for Paris in a blizzard. On Air France, I try to sleep. But I keep having the same nightmare. I'm biking to work down Beacon Street, going as fast as I can. I pedal harder and harder, weaving in and out. But it's no use. No matter how fast I go, Mayor Menino, taking a detour from his Hyde Park-to-City Hall commute, keeps overtaking me on his shiny new Trek, laughing heartily as he passes by.

     

  • $80m in US funds for bike projects unspent in Mass. (Boston Globe)
    State ranks last, tapping 37% of grants since 1991
    By Alan Wirzbicki -- Despite a recent declaration by Governor Deval Patrick that encouraging bicycling is a priority for his administration, Massachusetts ranks last in the nation among all states in requesting federal funds for bike lanes, rail-trails, and similar improvements and has failed to use more than $80 million set aside for the state. Since 1991, the state has only spent about 37 percent of its share of the funding designated by Congress for such projects, a far lower rate than in any other state, according to federal statistics. By comparison, Connecticut and Rhode Island have spent 99 percent of their federal funding.

     

  • MBTA plans for drastic cuts in bus, rail service (Boston Globe, Boston Herald)
    Weekends, nights slashed unless state plugs deficit
    By Noah Bierman -- The MBTA would halt all evening and weekend commuter rail service, eliminate six Green Line stops, discontinue lightly used bus routes, and lay off 805 employees if the agency does not get legislative help with its $160 million deficit, according to a state document. The agency has delayed making the contingency plan public as it awaits action from the Legislature on a potential gas tax increase designed to rescue the state's transportation system. The increase could prevent or minimize service cuts and fare increases.

     

  • Pike budget pinch is felt at tollbooths, where drivers fume (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, WCVB)
    By Noah Bierman and Steward Bishop -- Easter weekend traffic jams that backed up as far as 7 miles along the Massachusetts Turnpike were the direct result of state officials declining to pay extra toll takers to work overtime shifts. And the head of the Turnpike shrugged yesterday and said the authority would not soon change its overtime policy, meaning the motoring public should prepare for many delays on the highway that is costing drivers more and more.

     

  • Administration Releases High-Speed Rail Plan (Transport Politic, White House Blog)
    Proposal envisions development of both upgraded corridors and very fast high-speed rail
    Today [April 16], President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood released a vision for high-speed rail in the United States, the first such administration-endorsed rail strategy in American history. The plan attempts to outline a strategy to follow in undertaking the development of rail corridors with the $8 billion included for the effort in the stimulus bill passed earlier this year. The administration has specifically endorsed providing more money in the near future to state and federal rail projects, though those funds have yet to be approved.
     

"Streets"

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

Parks

  • Editorial: How to make the Greenway work (Boston Globe)
     
  • VIDEO: Chronicle HD -- Greenway (WCVB)
     

Development projects

Out-of-state

  • M.T.A. Doomsday and the Lessons of Chicago (Politicker NY)
     
  • A look at Portland's future bikeways (BikePortland)
     
  • California Cities Need a Predictable Fund For Transit Operations (Streetsblog SF)
     
  • Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights seek repeat of car-free street weekends this summer (Daily News)
     
  • Study: Pedestrian and Cycle Path Encourage Exercise [Charleston, SC] (WCBD)
     

National trends

International news

  • VIDEO: People Friendly Design in London (Streetfilms)
     
  • Bike commuters can save employers 27M Euros in absenteeism [pdf] (TNO)