High Speed Rail Coming to……Texas?
Texas is an American state best known for its gun-loving, big truck driving, cowboy, remember the Alamo culture. It is the last place I’d expect high speed rail infrastructure to…
Transportation
Planning the Metropolitan #Vancouver Region: A Critical Perspective
Here is a review of the Planning the Metropolitan Vancouver Region: A Critical Perspective- Thank you to AY for inviting me- great catching up with SCARP people and making new…
Toronto: Bring Back the War on Cars
This year Toronto is witnessing a mayoral race between the worst mayor the city has ever seen and a few people who want his job. Not one candidate has come…
San Francisco Fluctuates Parking Prices, Reduces Wasteful Driving
Car culture in North America has led to massive subsidies for car drivers that go pretty much unnoticed. One of these subsidies is in the way of “free parking,” which…
Happy City Lecture with Charles Montgomery & Gordon Price- March 26 Review
I did a little live tweeting of the Happy City lecture by http://www.charlesmontgomery.ca/ (Sometimes MY live tweeting devolves/evolves into fun commentary…). I thought I would make my first attempt…
Portland Continues Support For Sustainable Transportation
Portland, Oregon is already known for its amazing support of bicycle riders and pedestrians. Now they have taken their commitment to making their city even better by building the largest…
A Scientific Approach to Better Urban Design
Urban design is not an easy activity because of the multitude of variables that impact the overall urban experience. There are buildings, traffic (foot and vehicular), landmarks, natural occurrences like…
Infographic: Footloose and Car Free
Riding bicycles is not only fun, it’s also great for the environment. Readers of this site already know many benefits of switching from a car-fcoused transportation society to one focused…
High-speed rail in Alberta: a terrible idea that just won’t go away
“Modern high-speed passenger trains are not pushed forward on billowing sails…” Although, when we’re done paying for a multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail link between Edmonton and Calgary, this may be how…
4 Theories Why US Teenagers Are Driving Less
Cars are horrible for the environment and car infrastructure can have very negative impact on local economies so it’s nice to see enthusiasm for driving diminishing in younger generations. American…
More Evidence That Streetcars and Light Rail Improve North American Cities
In Toronto there is a crack smoking mayor who believes that streetcars and light rail are an urban blight. The evidence that rail-based transit is an economic boom to cities…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom points out that many Canadians can expect to lose jobs without any social supports due to the Cons’ focus on political…
Beets for Road Ice Removal
The traditional approach to deicing roads is to cover the roads (and thus the ground around the road) in salt – which is absolutely awful for the environment. Because so…
Nifty Looking Glow in the Dark Paths
Saving energy is always a good thing, and sometimes that means turning out the streetlights. As a result, pathways go unlit and this can be problematic for cyclists and pedestrians.…
Urban Highways Should Be Torn Down; Replaced By Useful Space
Car-dominated infrastructure is clearly bad for local communities, transit, the environment (local and global), and the economy. So why do so many places refuse to tear down crumbling urban highways?…
The Amazing Drayson Electric Racing Car
The electric car racing league Formula E launches next year, which means that the racers need to build their cars now. The Drayson LMP 1 has 800 bhp and 4000…
Grounding the Toronto Island Airport’s $1.9-Billion Claim
As part of its push to expand to accommodate jet flights, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport has been advertising that it contributes $1.9 billion to Toronto’s economy. This claim…
The Types of Cyclist Change Thanks to Bike Sharing
Bixi is a bike sharing program that started in Montreal but the concept exists in cities around the world. In Montreal where there are more bicycle commuters every year,researchers at…
L.A.’s Famous Four-Level Freeway Interchange, ‘The Stack,’ Turns 58
by Nathan Masters on September 22, 2011 3:00 PM Fifty-eight years ago today, the Four Level interchange first opened to traffic. This iconic concrete ribbon that binds the 101 and…
Toronto Condo Developers Want More Bike Sharing, Less Focus on Cars
Despite repeated efforts by Toronto’s mayor to make transportation in the city worse, things are improving. Local condo developers are finding ways to build condo towers that don’t require more…