Silicon Valley is getting Bus Rapid Transit

Go! teen magazine for kids who love public transit

Check it out! Go! exploring the world of transportation is a free, online magazine out of Iowa State University for teens and young adults that explores the world of transportation and the careers they can find there. How cool is that?

[Post-Gazette] Pittsburgh a rust-belt Venice?

While the G-20 is convening in Pittsburgh, the City assured pedestrians and cyclists that they are welcome downtown... Except that they blocked the way.

photo by Timothy McNulty

Jym says: This is part of my bike route downtown from the North Shore and North Boroughs....

And the local paper published the following Open Letter:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Open Letters A car-free zone
...Downtown Pittsburgh should become pedestrian-only -- free of cars. We are blessed with a Downtown that is a perfectly walkable size. So draw a line north to south from river to river through the new hockey arena, and from there to the Point is our car-free zone. We'd be a wonder! It would be glorious! Parking could be across shore and people would ferry over or walk across the pedestrian bridges.
...
JASON KOTTLER
Mount Oliver

[Detroit Blog] Car Capital of the World loves bikes

Detroit Blog: Taking back the streets one bicycle at a time by Karen Dybis
...“Bikes are all about freedom. It's about access. And that's what makes a city great,” Clein said.

Detroit has the room for cyclists, Clein argues. Its major roads, like Michigan Avenue, have a stunning nine lanes. That is because the city once had cable cars and modes of transportation that needed space. Plus, Detroit used to have more than 2 million residents filling its 140 square miles.

Today, the population is around 900,000....

Fake NYP on Climate Change

"SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST from The Yes Men on Vimeo.

PDX's New Green Line

American transit wonks always love Portland, Oregon. It's a medium sized city with excellent cycling and streetcar networks. On Sunday, September 13, Portland's new Green Line begins operation.

UCD Analysis: "Cash for Clunkers" is a very expensive way to cut CO2

Of course, we oppose "Cash for Clunkers" because it fuels America's addiction to the automobile, but this analysis finds it is also bad economics:

The Implied Cost of Carbon Dioxide under the Cash for Clunkers Program
by Christopher R. Knittel, August 12, 2009

Abstract: The Cash for Clunker program aims to stimulate the economy, provide relief for automobile manufacturers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this research note, I present estimates of the implied cost of carbon dioxide reductions under the Cash for Clunker program. The estimates suggest that the program is an expensive way to reduce greenhouse gases. This is true under a wide range of assumptions regarding the increase in fuel economy of new vehicles purchased under the program, how long the clunkers would have been on the road if not for the program, and whether we account for reductions in criteria pollutants. Conservative estimates of the implied carbon cost exceed $365 per ton; best case scenario parameter values suggest a cost of carbon of $237 per ton.

We'll always have Paris... and Tokyo.

LA Times: U.S. public transit improvements will be a tough sell
by David Lazarus, August 5, 2009

It won't be enough to lay down lots of track and hope people leap aboard trains and subways. It also will take discouraging the use of cars and making cities less comfortable.

It's hard to appreciate how truly pitiful our public transportation system is until you spend some time with a system that works.

Over the course of two weeks in Japan, I rode just about every form of public transit imaginable -- bullet trains, express trains, commuter trains, subways, street cars, monorails and buses. Nearly every ride was smooth, on schedule and affordable. article continues

"We Are Ready to Start at Any Time."

Neat. A proposed high-speed rail network for Michigan with Maglev trains. A state legislative task force has held three public meetings on the potential service and responses are positive - mostly because of all the jobs it creates.

(MLive.com)