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Development-Oriented Transit: Bus, Trolley Bus and Streetcar
How do we create pedestrian-friendly mainstreets and 20-minute neighborhoods? At the beginning of the last century Streetcars were the preferred tool, and here in Portland they are again at the beginning of this century here in Portland and increasingly in other U.S. cities. Of course it is not simply a matter of installing rails in…
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We Are Traffic
I’ve just finished reading Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic. The key takeaway for me is that safety is not simply a function of engineering, but rather includes a very healthy dose of psychology and behavior, often in very non-intuitive ways. Perhaps most perverse is the idea that as we add safety features to our roads and vehicles,…
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I’d Like to Feed a Few Good Ambassadors
As I have in previous years, I’m hosting a Portland Streetcar table at the BTA’s annual Alice B. Toeclips awards dinner (5pm on Saturday March 7th). I have several (paid for) seats available at the table and would like to offer them to folks interested in promoting comity between cycling and streetcars (there are no…
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The Problem of Distracted Pedestrians
A piece from NPR’s Weekend Edition explores the safety challenge of pedestrians who are distracted by cell phones, texting or simply listening to MP3 players, including the sad story of a teen whose iPod was so loud he didn’t hear the freight train that killed him. Now I’ve been know to walk the streets of…