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  1.  

    Christopher Parker

    The picture is considerably worse when you compare deaths per mile.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  2.  

    Name

    I hope you are wrong about all of that.
    Swiftly removed or modified? Are you daft?

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Will Vehicular Cyclists and the "Right to Park" Trump Safer Streets in Boston?
  3.  

    Ben Fried

    The study isn’t a cost-benefit analysis. It’s addressing specific perceptions about what type of development produces fiscally healthy city budgets.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Study: Walkable Infill Development a Goldmine for City Governments
  4.  

    Anxiously Awaiting Bikeshare

    I am not sure when the goal of local governments became to maximize tax revenues. I know these sorts of basic cost-benefit analysis are routine, but one would hope there would be more than just dollar signs in the benefits column.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Study: Walkable Infill Development a Goldmine for City Governments
  5.  

    Brad Metcalf

    Well deserved. Lots of private parking lots downtown. But whenever any event ever happens these lots are an easy $10 a spot even if you are not partaking in the event. In some cases go for $25. This money goes to private entities, not Tulsa. So paying for these spots does not make the situation better, it encourages it to get worse. I don’t mind a buck here or there. But it is just getting retarded.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to In a Landslide, Tulsa Wins the Parking Madness "Golden Crater" Award
  6.  

    Shane Phillips

    This is outstanding. Thanks for sharing.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Study: Walkable Infill Development a Goldmine for City Governments
  7.  

    Nathanael

    “People have shown beyond any reasonable doubt they’re utterly incapable
    of safely driving automobiles when there are such huge numbers of other
    automobiles in close proximity.”

    I wouldn’t go that far. I think a system of drivers’ licenses which required tests as stringent as the UK’s — which are far more stringent than ours — and required retesting every 5 years, and required license revocation for far more offenses — would get the unsafe people off the road.

    Yeah, about 2/3 of the driving population would lose their licenses.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
  8.  

    Nathanael

    I am DEFINITELY seeing worse driving on the road in the last few years. (This is in the Northeast.) I haven’t been able to explain why. But there’s just a lot more erratic driving, tailgating, going faster than is safe on snow, passing illegally on the right, failing to signal, etc. etc., than there was a few years ago.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
  9.  

    Anonymous

    Agreed – if we are truly concerned about safety, we would be investing in pedestrian, biking, and transit. As it stands, 85% of our federal dollars are obligated to roadway investments, yet every Environmental Impact Statement used to justify enormous road projects cites safety as its first priority.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
  10.  

    Anonymous

    It makes sense that the sunk costs of having a mortgage would make labor less mobile, even if people are not underwater on their mortgages, because if you don’t stay in your house for at least a few years you are losing money, if not in absolute terms then at least relative to renting.

    Note, however, that this issue is largely irrelevant to the things that most people on Streetsblog care about. The immobility of labor due to high home ownership rates in sprawlsville could be rectified by having SFRs in the burbs operated as rental properties – something that the powers that be are trying to encourage.

    On the other side of the coin, it’s possible to imagine a walkable, bikeable, mixed-use neighborhood with high apartment/condo/coop ownership rates that would be susceptible to the same problem. We have a suite of federal and state policies that encourage SFR ownership in sprawlsville and discourage ownership in denser areas, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

    The result of the study do provide even more evidence that we should reexamine our policies that encourage ownership and discourage renting, but that’s about it.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to There Goes the Neighborhood: Why Homeownership Drags Down Employment
  11.  

    Jake Williams

    Upon graduating from college at UCLA, I moved back home to Chicago to start my working career as an engineer. I had commuted to internships before, one in Kenosha, WI and one in Melrose Park, IL, so I was already exposed and accustomed to the solo commute by automobile. I was looking for work anywhere in the metro area, and when I was offered a job in Lincolnshire, a suburb of Chicago 26 miles from my apartment, I was not phased. Little did I know, that the next four years would at times literally
    “drive” me crazy.

    The commute affected my whole life and actually made me dread going to and from work. I tried waking up early in the morning, and while it was nice seeing the sunrise, it was not a sustainable schedule. I worked longer hours, and although the morning commute was somewhat more tolerable, the commute home was about as awful. I tried breaking up the afternoon commute by heading straight to the gym and then going home. The result was that I was gone 14 hours a day and exhausted, constantly. I would become angry and irritable. I needed a “cool-off” period when I got home. I stalked the roads religiously on traffic sites and on the various radio stations, but knowing never changed what was coming. I realized that the commute had completely conquered me when I left work one snowy winter day and got so frustrated with the stagnation on the road that I turned around and went back to work, for hours.

    So, when times got rough and I was laid-off from work, the strange overwhelming feeling was of relief. Ironically, I was supposed to be laid-off a day earlier, but I had to call off work because my car had broken down. I was disenchanted with my career choice and lifestyle choice, and I realized after a couple of months, that I had the power to change all of that. I decided that
    I had one of many new goals: to walk to work.

    After a lot of exploration and searching, I found THE job, and it was only 3 miles from my apartment in a nice residential neighborhood of the Chicago where I used to live. This was a commute that I could handle: 11 minutes door-to-door by car or 25-30 minutes by walking and bus. It was a start, but given that I still had a car, and there was not a direct bus or train route, I found myself driving more frequently than taking the public transportation. It was only 3 miles, but I still dreaded it a little. It is as if there is a cumulative frustration when solo commuting by car that once amounted to a certain level, it takes only the slightest road block to conjure an awful irritability.

    I got a road bike to replace my old, beat-up mountain bike, which made riding into work much more enticing. This was one of the best decisions I could have made. The city all of a sudden shrank in scale. What was once a recreational pastime for me became my preferred mode of transportation. I replaced many of 4.5 mile car trips from the office to my girlfriend’s place with bike trips, and I did not lose any time! I was on the right path.

    When my lease came to term last September, I only considered places within a mile radius of my workplace, and I landed a spot a half mile down the road. That first walk to and from work was a blissful experience. I could walk home
    for lunch; I could wake up minutes before my work day was slated to begin; and I could plan for anything after work without worrying about hour long delays. I could focus on the important things in life, including work. But there was a problem: I still owned a car.

    As proof that the “convenience” of an automobile is addictive, I actually on occasion drove 1/2 a mile to work. Insanity. It had to end. And so I sold it. For $300 – anything to get it off my hands. Good bye insurance payments, city
    stickers, license plate renewals, snow removal, parking fees, gas pumping, and trips to the mechanic. Hello sanity.

    My motivations for this change were of course not only to save time. I do something I love now, and even though I am earning less based on my career change from engineering to non-profit work, I can save money. It’s a healthier choice, both physically and mentally. It’s better for the environment, which as a member of the Chicago Conservation Corps, I am extremely conscious
    of. And it’s fun!

    So, in summary, my commute was 2-3 horrible hours minimum each day by car; then, it was 11 tolerable minutes each way by car; then it was occasionally 15 minutes by bike; and now it is 12 glorious minutes each way by my own two feet (or 3 minutes by bike!). I drove enough miles to go around the world 3 times over and only went as far as Michigan, and now I walk, bike,
    train, or bus everywhere I can. When I do drive for work purposes, I use a local, non-profit car sharing service called I-GO.

    To cap it off, my girlfriend and I are moving in together in June to a new apartment. She will continue to take the train or bike downtown for work, and I will continue to walk or bike, even a little less (0.4 miles!).

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”
  12.  

    Ted King

    Suggested edit :
    s/Internet Gas Taxes/Internet Sales Taxes/

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Today's Headlines
  13.  

    Alon Levy

    My description of last semester’s commute:

    “I live about 3 minutes from an express bus stop, where I can get the express bus and be at UBC within 15 minutes, whereupon I can walk from the diesel bus loop to my classroom in 6 minutes. Since I teach at 10 in the morning, it means I should leave around 9:30 or just before and then with rush hour headways I can be guaranteed not to be late to my own class. Unfortunately, because classes start on the hour, everyone wants to ride the last bus that makes the 10 am classes, and by the time this bus gets to my neighborhood, it is full. To guarantee getting on a bus I need to be at the bus stop by 9:20 or not much later, which since I have no real reason to show up to campus 15 minutes ahead of time lengthens my effective commute to 40-45 minutes.”

    May 8, 2013
    in response to Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”
  14.  

    Anonymous

    I would say that men over 85 suffer a disproportionate share of death, period.

    May 8, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  15.  

    voltairesmistress

    Since nearly everyone has elders in their family circle, emphasizing the high rates of death and injury to seniors seems the most politically palatable and powerful approach.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  16.  

    Shane Phillips

    I’m not claiming that the majority of deaths are motorcycle-related, just questioning whether it might be a contributory factor. There are about 4,500 motorcycle deaths every year, just for reference.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  17.  

    Ryan Brady

    Is there a point you’re trying to make?

    May 7, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  18.  

    walkedmileseveryday

    I did not see one word that implies pedestrians are responsible for their health.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  19.  

    Jake Wegmann

    Very interesting.

    I would further speculate that a contributor to the terrible ped death rates for Native American men could be that many of them are both carless AND living in rural areas with hardly any consideration for the needs of pedestrians at all — potentially a deadly combination.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to The Inequitable Toll of Pedestrian Deaths
  20.  

    Kyle Hill

    In the days of private passenger trains during the Turn Of The Century there wasn’t as much motivation for passengers to travel………at least not out of state.

    We didn’t have all these tourist traps though there were theme parks but they didn’t have as big of an impact until the mega parks came into existence then the smaller ones starting getting more attention strangely enough.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Can a 100% Private Passenger Rail Line Turn a Profit?
  21.  

    Kyle Hill

    But the*Gasp* but Communism or Socialism which is semi-Communist HATES competition! Competition is bad for you!………At least according to the Reich.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Can a 100% Private Passenger Rail Line Turn a Profit?
  22.  

    Kyle Hill

    That’s actually great *even heaven* for commuters and vacationers who want to pop down to South Floridabut you’ll still need a car to do you’re groceries because trains only stop at desginated spots then you have to walk or rent a car to travel the 8 blocks to the Safeway for basic food supplies or Costco if you buy things in bulk.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Can a 100% Private Passenger Rail Line Turn a Profit?
  23.  

    vet

    Lots of veterans ride motorcycles.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  24.  

    Anonymous

    First link is broken.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Today's Headlines
  25.  

    BobaFuct

    As the husband of an Iraq combat vet, I have experienced this first-hand. My wife has become a saner driver over the 4 years we’ve been together, but when we first started dating, I was afraid to drive with her. Her thing was that she always had to be passing other cars…sitting in traffic, even if it was moving quickly and smoothly made her really antsy, so she drove very aggressively to get past everyone else.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  26.  

    Katie

    When I moved from Boston to the DC suburbs over a year ago, I was sure I’d have to get a car for my commute. But after making it all the way through my pregnancy without a car, it just didn’t seem like a car would really be necessary. Now my commute involves getting my 10-month old to and from daycare on the bus, which, with rare exceptions, is wonderful for everyone involved. He loves the bus, and despite the fact that he can’t talk yet, he manages to make lots of friends. They call him “The Happy Baby.” As soon as he sees the bus coming down the road, he starts squealing and kicking his legs, and once we get on, he just charms everyone on the bus by smiling and chattering away at all of them. The other day, someone started snapping out a beat, and my little guy was just dancing along… I seriously thought maybe someone was about to break into song, like we were in a musical or something. Sometimes if we have to wait a while for the bus, we just sit on the ground and he crawls around for a bit (it’s a fairly quiet, residential street). Maybe we’ll get some weird looks, but he doesn’t know that “normal people don’t sit near the curb and play.” He’s just happy to be able to explore outside! The other part of my commute, to and from work, is just a quick bus ride or a 30-min walk. So, yeah, seeing how happy my baby is on the bus and how happy he makes everyone else, getting in some extra exercise, and getting time outdoors with my baby instead of having him strapped in to a carseat? What’s not to like?

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”
  27.  

    Anonymous

    Welcome to Peak Everything.

    The VMT decline is not about young people texting (or texting while driving), it’s more because they cannot afford cars or if they have cars they cannot afford to drive as much.

    Looking at VMT and energy for the past four decades finds a very close correlation. There was a VMT drop after the 1973 oil embargo and then again at the 1979 gas lines. Not a surprise.

    “It’s really hard to come to terms with the number of corporations, government agencies, consultancies, civil service departments and politicians who seem incapable of comprehending a trend break or trend reversal. Collectively they would have been incapable of working out that the wheel may change transport.”
    – Euan Mearns, June 11, 2008
    http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4130#comment-359871

    http://www.oilempire.us/peak-energy.html
    Peak Energy (electricity and liquid fuels) in the US was 2007

    US energy consumption data from http://flowcharts.llnl.gov Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

    http://www.oilempire.us/peak-electricity.html
    Peak Electricity in the US was 2007

    Electricity data from Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
    http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_01.html
    http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/archive/03482009.pdf

    http://www.peaktraffic.org/vmt.hml
    Peak Vehicle Miles Traveled in the US was 2007

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  28.  

    Anonymous

    Traffic peaked on the existing I-5 bridge almost a decade ago. Widening the highway to 16 lanes (on the Washington side) is obscene.

    The light rail is almost irrelevant. The Washington side would have giant parking structures, not a “transit friendly” yuppie gentrification zone. The money for light rail would probably be better spent upgrading the passenger rail between Vancouver and downtown Portland, high speed commuter rail that didn’t stop every few blocks like the MAX light rail. Light rail is nice in the city but as a longer distance commuter rail it’s slow.

    http://www.peaktraffic.org/columbia-river-crossing.html
    CRC Peak Traffic Alternative

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Sparks Fly as Lawmaker Grills LaHood on Columbia River Crossing Transit
  29.  

    Anonymous

    More money for trains and a lot more money for highways. It’s the “all of the above” strategy.

    Smart growth would have been a nice idea in 1950.

    Now, we’re past the limits to endless growth on a round, finite planet.

    In the US Peak Energy, Peak Electricity and Peak Traffic (Vehicle Miles Traveled) were all in 2007.

    http://www.oilempire.us/peak-energy.html
    Peak Energy (electricity and liquid fuels) in the US was 2007

    US energy consumption data from http://flowcharts.llnl.gov Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

    http://www.oilempire.us/peak-electricity.html
    Peak Electricity in the US was 2007

    Electricity data from Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
    http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_01.html
    http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/archive/03482009.pdf

    http://www.peaktraffic.org/vmt.hml
    Peak Vehicle Miles Traveled in the US was 2007

    May 7, 2013
    in response to Obama's 2014 Transpo Budget Calls for Higher Spending, HSR
  30.  

    davistrain

    It’s been pointed out many times that the US motor-vehicle-related death toll is the equivalent of a loaded jet airliner “buying the farm” every day or two. Why is this tolerated? (I don’t think “accept” is quite the word to use). I can think of several reasons: 1) For most Americans, driving or riding in a car is part of everyday life, while travel by aircraft or train is a special event. 2) I don’t know the exact extent of the NTSB’s jurisdiction, but it may not cover private motor vehicles below a certain size (perhaps 15 passenger vans). 3) Car crashes usually have body counts in the single digits; unless someone famous (e.g. James Dean) perishes, it’s not that newsworthy. 4) More stringent driver licensing policies, for both issuance and revocation, are politically unpopular because the average citizen would be greatly annoyed if he or she “missed the cut” of a rigorous testing program. And the vehicle industry wouldn’t like it because there would be fewer customers for their products. 5) The news media have a vested interest in downplaying street and highway casualties because they receive a significant portion of their advertising revenue from car and truck makers, and auto insurance providers.

    May 7, 2013
    in response to NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
  31.  

    Jeffrey Baker

    The rate would have to be WAY higher to make any difference, because almost nobody rides motorcycles. And the Army, at least, has compulsory beginner and experienced rider training. Don’t know about the other branches. Veterans returning from combat deployments are required to take the courses again. What with all the required training, I’d be surprised if Army motorcycle deaths and injuries were even as high as the general population, much less significantly higher.

    I would be interested to hear about any hard data, though.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  32.  

    RD Frazier

    This is so sad. Our veterans have so many other issues to deal with on returning home after putting themselves in harms way to protect us. They have experienced horrors that we cannot imagine.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  33.  

    PC

    Thank goodness nobody is ever killed or injured in train or bus accidents, eh?

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  34.  

    Caitlyn Horose

    My commute is sweet because I’ve got options:

    a) Walk past Denver’s lovely Capitol, then through historic Civic Center Park to catch a free shuttle bus along the 16th Street Mall. The bus drops me in front of the Tattered Cover, an awesome local bookstore that opens early to sell coffee. After grabbing a delicious chai, I head around the corner to my office.

    b) Take a bike ride down the Cherry Creek bike path. It’s a quiet 2 mile commute where I can stop to check out wildlife along the creek. And, because my work is sweet, there is plenty of bike parking and showers are available for super hot days.

    c) Feeling lazy? Running late? That means I carpool with my bf. Rarely any traffic, and it’s on his way, so I can’t feel too bad about it. :)

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”
  35.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    The problem you cite is very ground into the American political structure, in which rural states (e.g., the “welfare-hating” red states) get subsidized by the blue. In which every state gets 2 Senators – Rhode Island and California both. Many other aspects as well cause the urban population to have way less actual power than the suburban or rural in terms of garnering funding.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  36.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    Hi Charles! I know you lol. You can have a good “regional transit system connecting with the suburbs”, but you will never have a reasonable mode share. Your point though about how you build the suburbs matters – an Amsterdam suburb is nothing like Walnut Creek, which even has a BART station, but which probably has a 1% transit mode share – and if you count linked trips so you don’t count cases where people drive to BART, it’s probably even lower. I think however the current (like MTC’s Plan Bay Area) attempt to retrofit transit and ToD into the suburbs will fail miserably. We need more cities like SF (and the high property prices there provide market proof that we do), not suburbs where by spending billions on lightly-used transit we improve mode share from 1% to 3%.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  37.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    There is an ancient contradiction between those who want more services and those who want low taxes. Americans go for low taxes every time (except for war, where the Republicans suddenly don’t care about the budget). The good news is that this has hit the road system badly, but unfortunately Congress has simply transferred general fund revenues to the bankrupt Highway Trust Fund. Naturally, this provides ammo to those who (correctly) say the car is the most subsidized transport mode of all, to answer the anti-transit folk who claim transit is “socialism”. Yet, when you bring up this point, the anti-transit types simply deny it. You can point them to the budget websites, but they just refuse to move. Or they say that it’s OK for the general taxpayer to fund roads, because “everybody” drives (their drinking buddies in other words), or anybody who really counts, or we all get products delivered by truck; but subsidizing transit particularly rail is “socialist” because it gives benefits to people the whiner doesn’t like. That’s America.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  38.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    You are right. Poll after poll has shown that Americans want more trains, particularly. Now anti-transit forces say that just means people want OTHER people off the roads so they have more room, they like the “idea” of transit but not to actually ride it themselves. While there is truth in this notion, I think it’s exaggerated, basically a Fox-News level of analysis (i.e., totally biased towards one’s advertisers’ interests – facts begone). The reality is that for most Americans, transit works so poorly that it’s not a real option. Even here in San Francisco, with its decades long “transit first” policy, transit still has only a 25% mode share – but that’s 10 to 20 times what it has in many places. Suburban land use will NEVER be well-served by transit, it’s just poorly set up for it – expecting such would be like expecting cars to work well in water.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  39.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    I think mobile devices don’t merely substitute for car driving (or any transportation). Just board any bus or train here in the SF Bay Area, and you’ll see it’s packed with people texting, tweeting, etc. I think one strong effect of mobile devices is that they are simply more useable on a transit vehicle than in a car. It’s one thing to yakk on a phone while driving, inadvisable though that be. It’s another to text or Facebook behind the wheel. I’m putting my money into restaurants that don’t need two-handed utensils (such as Asian ones with chopsticks) – since when I view young people at restaurants, they are staring at their phones full time even as they’re filling their mouths and even when they are with others (who are also deep in their phones)… the preference amongst these people is to keep the phone in one hand at ALL times. Missing one tweet about somebody’s lunch or whatever could ruin your entire social standing.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  40.  

    Roderick Llewllyn

    The article already stated that there was a poor correlation between gas prices and per-capita driving, though the correlation coefficient was not stated.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Where Is the Bottom? Americans Continue to Drive Less and Less
  41.  

    Shane Phillips

    How much of that number is from motorcycle deaths? Motorcycle deaths are far, FAR more common per driver than car deaths (both are way too high), and I recall hearing a local radio program discussing the disturbing rate of motorcycle-related deaths among active military members, and possibly veterans as well here in Washington state.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  42.  

    Tao Liu

    Liberals != Trains, even in the United States, especially in the North East. A good portion of the Republicans in the Northeast actually support Amtrak, because they know of its critical importance as infrastructure there.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to While Amtrak Subsidies Draw Fire From Congress, Aviation Gets a Free Pass
  43.  

    Anonymous

    I think saying that veterans should’t drive is taking it bit far, but they do need to adjust to the fact that they are not in a combat zone anymore. Like the National Guard who apparently thinks that “keeping the convoy together” is more important that not running over pedestrians in NYC.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Surviving a War Abroad Only to Die Back Home Behind the Wheel
  44.  

    Anonymous

    You really have to hand it to Bud Shuster… he managed to build a freeway that is so useless, even highway geeks hate it.

    Felix Salmon is wrong about weighted density going down. If the rich people condo anecdote were true, that would make actual population density fall in addition to weighted population density. High rise residential development in the US, with the exception of Manhattan, is basically irrelevant to population density trends. What’s happening is that low-density areas are adding population faster than high-density areas.

    Consider a metro with three areas: a 100 sq mile core with 500,000 people, 300 sq miles of dense suburbs with 900,000 people, and 1000 sq miles of sprawlsville with 1,000,000 people. Density is 1714 and weighted density is 2583.

    Now let’s say by the next census, the core has expanded to 101 sq miles and 515,100 people, the dense suburbs to 315 sq miles and 976,500 people, and sprawlsville to 1200 sq miles and 1,260,000 people. Density is 1965 and weighted density is 2536.

    So, every part of the city got denser, but weighted density went down because growth in the less dense areas was faster. That is what is happening in America.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Today's Headlines
  45.  

    david vartanoff

    Certainly in favor of shoving more semis off the highway onto the rails, BUT grants to RRs for “capacity enhancements” must include right of Amtrak and local/state access for passenger use also. No access, no $$.

    (written as a tiny shareholder in CSX who objects to company anti passenger policies)

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Will the Nation's First Strategic Freight Plan be Multi-Modal?
  46.  

    Tao Liu

    The Highway Trust Fund has been in the red since the 50s. The Federal government has to transfer several billion dollars every year from the General Fund to keep the Fund solvent.

    The Interstate is not a ‘Federal System’, it’s not managed by the Federal Government. The Interstate is owned by the states, and federal funding goes through each states DOT to get to the Interstate. States have to cover whatever Congress doesn’t give them. As for capital costs, the trust fund’s not enough to cover maitnenance. Capital Costs pretty much all come from general funds.

    Federal funds for transit goes through a much higher amount of scrutiny compared to highway construction. The USDOT takes a look at the system and the projected ridership and costs to determine whether or not to provide the funding. Not enough ridership would result in funding rejection. Bus lines may be more flexible than rail systems, but they add to road congestion on top of lacking the capacity and reliability of rail. A good transit system is one where buses feed into the rail system to take riders somewhere farther off. Of course, the ridership has to be there to justify the rail system.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to UPDATED: Drivers Cover Just 51 Percent of U.S. Road Spending
  47.  

    Anonymous

    “Motor vehicle collisions were the leading cause of death for young people ages 15 – 24″

    sounds right. i used to wreck every car i owned until i grew up

    May 6, 2013
    in response to NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Shot Up 5.3 Percent to 34,080 in 2012
  48.  

    Serj

    Way to over generalize everyone with your blanket statement. Sounds to me like a jealousy issue. I clean my car and guitars very often. I value my materials but im not a fat slob. get out more and stop blindly generalizing.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Do We Treat Our Cars Better Than We Treat Ourselves?
  49.  

    Angie Schmitt

    Thank you. The article has been updated to reflect that correction.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Too Bad Captain America Can't Rescue Cleveland From Ohio DOT
  50.  

    Alex Francis Burchard

    I used to drive to work near Pearl and 26th st. in Tacoma Wa. from East Hill of Kent (25 ish miles). And every day I would get to work exhausted, and not ready to go do gardening, or maintenance. Then my parents stopped letting me use the car, and I had decided I needed to start getting used to biking anyways (As I am in college, and after that summer I was moving off campus to where the fastest affordable commute to school is biking (Chicago, Navy Pier to IIT) So, I started biking to the sounder, where I had wifi and played games for 30 minutes on my computer, then taking the Tacoma Link Light Rail, then a bus up the hill, and my bike for the last 2000 feet again. And on the way home (average of downhill) I’d bike all the way back to the streetcar (4 or 5 miles of rolling hills and a large downhill), and sometimes if I missed the streetcar, I’d race it and catch up with it, or just bike to the train(commuter train). After I started biking/bussing/training to work I felt so much better when I got there, I’d also stop at starbucks on my way in since that’s where the bus let off, and I just felt so much better. The commute increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, but it didn’t bother me at all. I could even nap on the train, rather than ultra-focusing on Seattle-Area Traffic. Nowadays though I live downtown Chicago and bike or take the bus/train wherever I need to go (usually bike) And I live close enough to work that I walk to work often. (.75 miles). I’ve lost a pile of excess weight, feel better about myself, have fewer physical problems, and when I’m out riding I feel better than anything. Weeks where its too rainy or cold and I take the “L”/bus all week I get kinda depressed.

    May 6, 2013
    in response to Tell Us About Your “Commuter Idyll”

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