Month: April 2011

from Transportation Experts
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That’s because maintaining roads and bridges isn’t nearly as sexy as building them. "It’s like having the roof leaking and buying a hot tub…. There’s a lot of pressure on [transportation agencies] to build new facilities, and that comes at the expense of keeping up what you’ve got," said Roger Millar, Smart Growth America’s director of Land Use and Transportation Policy. Smart Growth America will release a study next month showing that filling the pothole is perhaps more important than building a new road. Acting now saves money later.
How can infrastructure advocates overcome the political reality that fixing a leaky roof, or a pothole, is just plain boring? Does the public need to weigh in? Or can the discussions be had among just elected officials and the transportation community? Do officials at the federal and state transportation departments need to be more up front about where their allotted transportation money is going if they are to justify the need for more? Do tight budgets help or hurt the conversation?
Continue reading “Fixing a Leaky Roof (or a Pothole)”

BY Edgar Sandoval, Jennifer H. Cunningham and Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
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At the Mobil station on W. 30th St. in Manhattan, Kevin Williams of Brooklyn cringed next to his 2005 Mercedes-Benz as he watched the pump tick past $80.
"I like my car, but I’m thinking it’s not worth it. I’m going to sell it," said Williams, 30. "I either have a car or I go out. You can’t do both."
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Greyhound driver Keith Spriggs of Baltimore spent $499.73 to fill his bus.
"I got two cars at home, and I went out and bought a moped," he said, adding that $10 worth of gas lasts him several days now.
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Continue reading “More expensive than milk! $4-plus gallons of gas straining New Yorkers’ budgets”

from New Urban Network – The Source for Urban Planning, Walkable Communities & Smart Growth by Charles Marohn
As a society, we are zealous when it comes to the safety of children. And rightfully so. Still, for some reason we find it perfectly acceptable to routinely include them in the most dangerous activity of American life: riding in a car.
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The best thing we can do for the safety of our children is to get them out of the car by building mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods.
So who in the child-advocacy realm is talking about this? Nobody that I can see. Safe Kids USA has all kinds of information on using your child seat, but nothing on the value of reducing trips. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has information on child seats, but that’s it. Same with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Child seats. Should they really inoculate our collective conscience?
Shortly after my oldest was born, I got in a bad accident. An oncoming car came across the lane, we glanced each other head on, I went off the road and came to a stop when Mr. Tree refused to yield. I was belted and air-bagged yet banged my head pretty hard. I could not remember my phone number, address or doctor’s name and it took me a couple of months before I had my full mental cognition back. For a fast-driving, road-loving, engineer type with a new baby, this had a major impact on me.
I’m sorry if this piece has caused anyone pain. It seems we all know someone who has lost a loved one, too many of them kids, in a car accident. I don’t blame any parent for doing what I do each day: buckle up the kids, give them a kiss and drive as safely as I can. Still, we need to ask ourselves, what are we really willing to risk in order to maintain the American development pattern?
Is it really worth it?
Continue reading “Do we really care about children?”