Fascinated by this report, which argues a ton of things that sound questionable out context. E.g. walkability folks need to pay more attention to the needs of drivers, the "complete streets" model is failing us, we need to make parking easier. But in context ... I found myself agreeing a lot?!

Walkable Cities Can Make Life Better for Drivers, Too — Streetsblog USA

Walkable cities are even better for drivers than ones designed with only the needs of motorists in mind — and in order to win, advocates for livable streets must embrace targeted strategies that make ...

usa.streetsblog.org

Excited to see this idea get an IRL deployment; *not* excited to see how many drivers were totally unmoved even when the city went out of its way to explain that road design changes needed to happen because a teenager died; still curious long term, to see how this strategy changes the conversation.

Steal This Idea: 'Emergency Streets' Strategy Gets First Real-World Pilot — Streetsblog USA

A talked-about road safety strategy just had its debut in Spoken, Washington – and it inspired some strong community reactions.

usa.streetsblog.org

Seeing a lot of folks get tangled up trying to understand how on earth we were able to "extend" our federal infrastructure law for a few months, but somehow sneak big new cuts to transit and rail into the same bill we've had for the last five years. Here's an explainer + what comes next.

Advocates Warn Short-Term Transit Cuts Could Foreshadow Deeper Long-Term Slashing — Streetsblog USA

A deeper dive on the transit cuts in the latest federal transportation extension bill – and how advocates are fighting back.

usa.streetsblog.org

So this is nuts; Orange County did an "e-bike buyback" event where they paid people up to $1,000 for illegal e-motos...and smaller amounts for legal, unmodified e-bikes that are super unlikely to hurt anyone. At multiple points, the cops refuse to pay for "bikes" that can go up to 40mph.

Dave England at Orange County E-bike Buy Back Event

YouTube video by Dave England

youtube.com

Wrote about why transportation reformers kind of suck at helping the public imagine getting around any another way, why it's essential that we learn, and how to be ambitious when we do it.

Transportation Reform Has an Imagination Problem — Streetsblog USA

How can we make our cities less dependent on cars if our neighbors can't even imagine themselves getting on the bus?

usa.streetsblog.org

Spoiler: you may have doubts! But I had fun talking to the founder of Organic Transit about light electric vehicles and the role of bike design in encouraging mode shift. (Also: it is fun to imagine a world where I can bike with my very large dog.)

Is It Time for the Era of the 'Bike-Car'? — Streetsblog USA

A quirky "velomobile" company is plotting a comeback. Will Americans buy it?

usa.streetsblog.org

There are a lot of reasons to oppose hyperscale datacenters for the impacts this slice of the AI industry has on society. But I hadn't seen anyone unpack their impacts on land use, transportation, and the fabric of our communities. Loved talking to Saul Levin of @thehumpod.bsky.social about it.

Where the Battles Against Harmful Highways and Hyper-Scale Data Centers Collide — Streetsblog USA

Hyperscale AI data centers and highways are both harmful forms of fossil fuel infrastructure that get built without much community input — and it's time to fight back against both, one of our favorite...

usa.streetsblog.org

Learned a lot from this report about why "fast, free buses" isn't necessarily an ambitious ask — and why it isn't just a New York thing. (Teaser: one of the most successful cities to attempt it so far is Birmingham, Alabama.)

What Would It Take to Get 'Fast, Free Buses' Nationwide? — Streetsblog USA

Fast and free buses might sound crazy — but is it crazy enough to work, even as governments take aim at steep transit cuts?

usa.streetsblog.org

Really dug this one we repubbed from @mouthbreather718.bsky.social (lol), about the rising omnipresence of attention-destroying advertising on transit, and why "but agencies need revenue" is a really poor excuse for allowing public space to be blanketed in corporate slop.

Are Brain-Rot Transit Ads Ruining Our Commutes? — Streetsblog USA

Advertisements give transit systems across the country badly-needed revenue. But how much is too much?

usa.streetsblog.org

Jacksonville Florida, the nation’s 11th largest city, has approved 22% transit cuts. It’s a nightmare: —Most bus service will operate on Sat schedule —The city’s automated rail service will simply not run —A “Navi” automated bus service will become manual because they can’t afford the software

JTA planning additional layoffs as it works to cut $39 million from FY 2027 budget, suspend Skyway service in November

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority will reduce its Fiscal Year 2027 budget by $39 million, suspend passenger service on the Skyway and pause Navi service as it works to balance revenue and expe...

news4jax.com

Just leaving this here for other St. Louisans, and especially @repwesleybellmo.bsky.social : MO-1 is ranked among the top 20 most dangerous districts for pedestrians, and the only one in that top 20 that isn't in the Sunbelt/doesn't have year-round walking weather. Why isn't this a top priority?

2026 congressional district rankings - Smart Growth America

smartgrowthamerica.org

Context check: he was predicting that gas demand would soften "as we move out of summer driving season" post-Labor Day and people start taking fewer road trips. But it's still fun to imagine a day when "fiscal conservatives" finally realize how fiscally insane mass car dependency has always been.

Fietser@americanfietser.bsky.social · 3w ago

*chokes on own saliva 😂 Ah yes, in a country that designed by force, car dependency into its entire built landscape, making car ownership and driving the first basic requirement to participate in society.

Grateful to @bethosborne.bsky.social for getting me back up to speed on the federal transportation reauthorization post-leave. If you've lost track of this gargantuan process too (no shame, it's complicated!) here's a quick refresher:

What You Missed in the Transportation Reauthorization This Summer — Streetsblog USA

Congressional negotiations over America's next big transportation law hit some speed bumps this summer, but there's more work to be done.

usa.streetsblog.org

I love this reframe; governments that love you find ways to offer you a ride when you need one, in ways that are meaningful and accessible to you.

amb@amb.fyi · last mo.

there's endless logistical, pragmatic, economic and moral reasons to support provisions of public transit, but at the end of the day, for me, a government that cares about its communities is one that's figured out how to offer you a ride when you need one, on terms that make the offer flattering

Hi friends: I haven't written an article in three months. Here's why, and how my experience as a caregiver to a person I love with a disabling, terminal illness upended most of what I think about car dependency and transportation reform.

Where I've Been — Streetsblog USA

How becoming a caregiver for a person with terminal illness changed the way I think about transportation reform.

usa.streetsblog.org

Loved this one we published on Memorial Day about the violent history of Route 66 you won't see in nostalgic tourist traps, and how that's shaped the roads we still drive on today

The Forgotten History of 'Bloody 66' And How Public Memory Helps Perpetuate Traffic Violence — Streetsblog USA

Centennial events downplay the violent history of one of America's most "iconic" highways, and obscure how that violence persists to this day.

usa.streetsblog.org

TBH it's been disturbing to see how Black Lives Matter has faded out of a lot of street safety conversations since Trump got back into power. Wrote about a new report that reminds us why that's a massive mistake, and why Vision Zero and criminal justice reform are fundamentally the same movement.

Street Safety and Police Reform Are Two Sides of the Same Coin — Streetsblog USA

America's broken approaches to roadway safety and criminal justice are deeply interconnected.

usa.streetsblog.org

Been a while since this happened and I think it's cool: this very cool journal translated one of our articles into Portuguese! It means a lot to me when my work resonants in other places around the world.

“Não somos Copenhagen” não é desculpa para negligenciar pedestres e ciclistas | Caos Planejado

Leia o artigo de Kea Wilson sobre as cidades além de Copenhagen que estão gerando uma transformação na sua mobilidade ativa.

caosplanejado.com

I've been writing about federal transportation policy for a decade and even I am amazed at how many new ways the Trump administration is finding to defund transit, and how breathtakingly hard it is to keep up with. T4 has a great breakdown on the latest one: stalling apportionment from the OMB.

USDOT’s historic failure to advance any new transit projects in 14 months may be a sign of things to come - Transportation For America

As in their first term, it appears the Trump administration is again attempting to slow down or stop transit capital expansion projects across the country. Unlike those previous attempts in 2017-2018,...

t4america.org

Asking commuter railroads to hold 325-400M in insurance is crazy, class 1 railroads generally self insure given their size. We let road vehicles get away with basically nothing and people scream if you suggest at least 100k for personal Autos and 2.5M for trucks (both of which are still too low)

Kea Wilson@keawilson.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The thing about transportation reporting is that stuff that's really wonky and easy to glaze over (revisions to federal train insurance liability requirements) can have *massive*, dramatic impacts on our lives unless we lock in and speak up (commuter trains across America abruptly stopping service.)

The thing about transportation reporting is that stuff that's really wonky and easy to glaze over (revisions to federal train insurance liability requirements) can have *massive*, dramatic impacts on our lives unless we lock in and speak up (commuter trains across America abruptly stopping service.)

This Doomsday Law Could Stop Trains Across America In A Matter of Weeks — Streetsblog USA

Arbitrary insurance requirements set by Congress could easily kill commuter rail in the United States.

usa.streetsblog.org

I cannot describe how exhausting it is to spend a career talking about induced demand, to see it become mainstream among average people AND their governments, to see and feel things finally changing... and then a president comes in who take us back to the 1950s.

For Earth Day, the Trump Administration Wants To Expand Highways Across America — Streetsblog USA

US DOT wants states to build more roads and take space away from bikes and give it to cars. It's foolish on so many levels.

usa.streetsblog.org

In St. Louis you can do this with street trees ...and I may or may not know someone who's done it upwards of 100 times. :)

Michael McLean@michaelmclean.me · 6mo ago

In Chicago you can drop a pin on this map to request a bike rack bikeparking-chicago.hub.arcgis.com It made me so happy to see a family use this rack I requested for the first time 🥹

I would love to know how many U.S. families have lost multiple members to traffic violence, especially in separate crashes. Because this is not the first story on a husband and wife dying in exactly the same place that I've reported, and unless something changes, it definitely won't be the last.

When Traffic Violence Hits The Same Family Twice — Years Apart, On Exactly the Same Street — Streetsblog USA

The deaths of a Colorado married couple has some mourning an eerie coincidence — and others outraged at two predictable tragedies that could have been prevented.

usa.streetsblog.org

IMO, we cannot possibly underestimate how little our elected officials and their staff actually know about how transportation works. And when you really look it in the face, it's obvious why we have the transportation system we do, and what we need to do to fix it.

“Why Do We Do This Bill?”: Preparing Congressional Staff for Surface Transportation Reauthorization — Streetsblog USA

A top advocacy organization is preparing Congress to take a critical look at the upcoming transportation reauthorization — and it's not easy.

usa.streetsblog.org

In which I share my go-to "fuck around and find out" tactic when arguing with end-stage carbrain

What If All Cars Were Autonomous, Electric, and Free? — Streetsblog USA

Can we really solve the problems of car dominance just by making cars less destructive?

usa.streetsblog.org

Really stoked about this news.

Sustainable Action! Streetsblog Is Making a Feature Film — Streetsblog USA

A new franchise — and here's how you can be a part of it.

usa.streetsblog.org

Spoiler: there isn't an easy answer! But not building so many damn highways is a good start.

How To Fix The Broken Gas Tax — Streetsblog USA

Drivers aren't paying their fair share — and no one else is getting their due. Is it time to rethink our federal road funding mechanisms?

usa.streetsblog.org

Wrote about why Trump's 'Freedom Means Affordable Cars' initiative (yes, they really called it that) is bullshit, why mass forced car dependency will never be affordable *or* liberating, and why the latest gas shock only makes it more obvious what this is all about: enriching automotive interests.

Trump's 'Freedom Means Affordable Cars' Rings Hollow As Gas Prices Surge — Streetsblog USA

Real freedom is the freedom to choose how you get around — including not driving at all.

usa.streetsblog.org

Really enjoyed this conversation about applying the idea of "universal basics" to neighborhoods, why it it *is* possible to give every person access to good transit, biking, and walking options, and why we actually can't afford not to do it. It's like Blue Zones without all the secret pension fraud!

How a 'Universal Basic Neighborhood' Can Help Americans Live Longer — Streetsblog USA

Want to increase your chances of living to 80? A new paper argues we need to start with our neighborhoods — and we need to do it for everybody.

usa.streetsblog.org