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.

Ridership Is Up, Now Raise the Gas Tax

These are real cuts affecting real people. Our most recent ridership survey showed more than half our riders use the bus to get to work and almost 60 percent do not have access to a car. Our riders tell us that we should be increasing service, not cutting it, and we agree. We simply do not have the money, and the state appears determined to get out of the business of supporting transit operations.

The San Francisco Chronicle

SamTrans is the public transit operator centered in San Mateo county, which serves a chunk of Silicon Valley and provides service into San Francisco. Their troubles represent the maddening distinction found all over the country of increased ridership during decreased funding. In such situations in the past, public transit systems have phased out their para-transit operations and "merged" them with scheduled operations. That makes no one happy.

Bikes on the Interstate Bridge (D.C.)

(via Transportation for America)

Close Times Square to Cars and Solve Its Traffic Problems

Today Slate.com writes on the "anti-space" of Times Square. What is an anti-space?

"More than 356,000 pedestrians travel through Times Square on an average day, according to the New York City Department of Transportation, while the number of cars is closer to 50,000. [...] only 11 percent of Times Square is devoted to pedestrian use."

Three Views of a New Carfree Space

Below are three low-quality photos (generic camera phone) of a new, tiny, and popular carfree area on 17th Street in San Francisco.


The city simply banned cars from the Muni Metro's F line tracks at one intersection.


Then the Castro Business District laid out some chairs and tables. The effect is astounding. This is a beautiful place to have yourself a sit-down, especially at night.


Previously just another clogged intersection for automobiles. Now it's a livable space.

Mayors

Mayor Boris Johnson is a big proponent of "cycle super highways," a plan that would increase the number of bicycle-only lanes in London. On one of the rides specifically intended to scope out possible super highway routes, the mayor and two transport ministers were nearly killed by a truck driver. The footage was caught on CCTV.




In other news about mayors, the dialog below occurred recently at a bar on Mission Street.

Me: Did you hear about Berkeley's mayor? He gave up his car.

Other: Pssht. He's only carfree three days per week and only from 9-5, while his wife is away in her car.

Me: Oh.



This is related to an earlier post about the mayor of Berkeley going carfree. I want to cite a proper source for the information, but I can't find one. The Bay Area has a rumor mill. Currently the rumor is that mayor Tom Bates received a lot of publicity for "going carfree" when all he did was sell his old car. Can anyone back this up? Have I been spun?

All Mayors Should Try This

Berkeley's mayor goes carfree.



No doubt he'll become one of many who knows that AC Transit (Berkeley's bus system) needs some major improvements.

Share the Intersection

GOOD Magazine did a take on what a more "livable" street in Manhattan would look like. Unfortunately it isn't carfree, but it's worth checking out.

My favorite recommendation is the traffic light with LPI, "leading pedestrian interval," tip #7 on GOOD's graphic. My least favorite recommendation is #8, the bollard. Sidewalks in Amsterdam are an example of how bollards can be overused and obstruct pedestrians. What do you think?


(Thanks, Erica C. Barnett from The Stranger's Slog Blog for the link.)

Sprawl: Cause and Solution

The Complete Streets Act 2009

The goal of the Complete Streets Act 2009 is to take pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit under consideration in all new road building. Eighty cities already have something similar; this bill is for the rest of you.



Tell your representative or senator. It's on the floor of both chambers this week.

There Are No Green Suburbs

From Erica C. Barnett at The Stranger's Slog Blog:

An exhaustive new report (via Sightline) shows that carbon emissions for people who live in dense cities are far lower than those who live in suburbs. And the denser a city is, the less carbon each of its inhabitants emits. Why? Because people who live in cities drive less (producing lower transportation emissions) and use less energy overall (because sharing walls reduces energy consumption).