Month: March 2010

From How We Drive:
…
If the percentage of parking lot area in the county (0.44%) is scaled to the area occupied by the conterminous United States, the entire states of Connecticut, and Massachusetts (12,550 + 20,305 = 32,855 km2 ) would be paved over with parking lots.
To put this another way: The American parking lot currently consumes much more space than the entire country’s population would if it were scaled to Brooklyn-style density.
Continue reading “We need more room … for parked cars?”

Cars may be convenient but at what price?

Continue reading “Feds Begin Redefining ‘Affordable Housing’ to Include Transport Costs”

Secretary LaHood’s statement about bike and pedestrian activity is a logical extension of what we have learned about transportation in America over the last 25 years. That lesson is simply to look at the big picture, serve all users, and maximize the total transportation system.
For years, the needs of cyclists and pedestrians were virtually ignored, resulting in disproportionate numbers of injuries and the loss of life. It has left many cities with an unbalanced system that doesn’t work well for all users, like those who are disabled, unable to drive, or not old enough to get a license, such as kids going to school. While not everyone uses a car, at some point everyone is a pedestrian. Transportation systems that take everyone’s needs into consideration simply work better.
The fundamental point about cycling is that it is the least expensive way to add new capacity to our stressed transportation systems. In 14 years of biking in Washington, DC and not using a car, I have produced virtually no wear-and-tear on the roads, no air pollution, no competition for scarce parking spaces, nor added to Washington’s notorious congestion. My decision to burn calories instead of fossil fuel was good for me and the motorists who have chosen otherwise.
Continue reading “Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. responds”

Children riding a bicycle to school are more active and fitter than those who rely on other modes of transport, says a new research.
The findings are based on a study of 6,000 children, aged 10 to 16, from the eastern region of England. The children’s cardio-respiratory fitness and travel habits were assessed during 2007 and 2008.
Gavin Sander*censored* and Christine Voss, biological scientists, University of Essex, who led the research, said such active transportation can be a gateway for lifelong fitness in children.
Students from 23 schools completed a school-travel questionnaire and completed a 20-metre shuttle-run test (a speed and agility exercise) to assess their fitness levels.
Researchers found boys who walked to school were 20 percent more likely to be fit compared with those using motorised transport such as bus and automobiles, and girls who walked were 30 percent more likely to be fit.
Boys who cycled to school were 30 percent more likely to be fit, but there was an even more dramatic difference in fitness among female subjects, who were seven times more likely to reach the minimum fitness standard than girls who were driven to school.
Girls who bicycled to school were seven times more likely to reach the minimum fitness standard than girls who used motorised transport.
In all cases, children who were driven to school had the lowest levels of physical fitness, being less fit than walkers, cyclists and even children who took the bus.
Cyclists were also found to be more physically active at other times of day when compared to children using other transport modes.
Although cyclists and car users were most different in terms of physical fitness, the distances they travelled to school were very similar.
Cyclists rode for about 1.5 miles to school, and average car rides were about two miles. Half of these car journeys were less than two miles and 15 percent were less than a mile – both easily walkable or bikeable distances.
In all cases, children who were driven to school had the lowest levels of physical fitness, being less fit than walkers, cyclists and children who took the bus.
Cyclists were also found to be more physically active at other times of day when compared with children using other transport modes, says a release of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
"Children need to be active and stay fit in order to stay healthy. Encouraging them to walk or cycle to school is one great opportunity to help achieve this," Voss said.
These findings were published in the journal of ACSM.
Continue reading “Fittest kids ride a bicycle to school”

Transportation Freedom Day is the day by which the average Dallas household had earned enough to pay for a year’s worth of transportation costs, which was March 17. If you lived in a mass transit friendly area then that day was Feb 17 and if you biked… well we are not going to talk about that.
Continue reading “Happy Transportation Freedom Day!”

I’ve been called many things as I ride to and from work every day in our nation’s capital, but a harbinger of economic catastrophe…now that’s a first!
As I think back to major economic catastrophes of the last 40 years, I am having a hard time finding any tell-tale trace of bicycle tire tracks. On the contrary, my recollection of significant recent economic crises is that they are invariably caused by our predeliction for foreign oil – the 1973/74 oil embargo; 1988 oil crisis; 2008 gas price increases quickly followed by the mortgage and foreclosure crisis that piled unsustainable housing costs on top of budget-busting suburban commuting costs.
In terms of economic competitiveness, I would suggest that the crippling – and rapidly rising – health care costs associated with physical inactivity and obesity among the US workforce is a crisis worth worrying about. This adds significantly to the cost of everything produced here in the United States, making us less competitive abroad. Getting people moving through daily physical activity is a national priority – enabling people to bike and walk as part of everyday routines is a remarkably cost-effective way of achieving that goal, and surely something that manufacturers and employers would be behind 100 percent. The fact that it would also reduce congestion and increase discretionary spending on goods and services seems like a pretty good deal for the business community.
Keith Laughlin referred to the recently introduced Active Community Transportation Act, which would provide a major boost to cities in completing networks and programs to encourage and enable people to walk and ride for everyday transportation. The cost of the program is just 0.5% of the estimated price tag of the next surface transportation bill – and an amount similar to bridge program funds left on the table by state DOTs for recent rescissions – and would result in voluntary and much needed shifts in mode choice.
Economic calamity is regularly predicted to follow highway improvements that favor the creation of more livable communities. Closing two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House to motor vehicle traffic was going to bring the nation’s capital to its knees. Opening Times Square in New York City to pedestrians last year was presaged by similarly dire predictions of chaos. Removing the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco after the 1989 earthquake has hardly stunted the growth of vibrant waterfront development and economic activity.
Let me be clear. We need roads; we need highways. We need cars and trucks. But they don’t work for everything and everyone all the time. We need choice, we need alternatives, we need balance. That’s what the Secretary’s new policy gives us a chance to achieve. The most vibrant, livable communities in the world – which also happen to be economic powerhouses – are those in which there is an equitable and rational balance between car, truck, transit, bike and walk modes. That’s a vision we need to achieve together.
Continue reading “Andy Clarke takes on Bill Graves, President and CEO, American Trucking Associations”