Recent Posts
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WalkScore now includes Transit Score
WalkScore, the web site that ranks the walkability of a location based on the accessibility of nearby amenities, has added some new features. First, the WalkScore number itself is becoming more accurate with new tweaks such as measuring actual as opposed to as-the-crow-flies distances and incorporating pedestrian friendliness metrics such as intersection density and block… Keep reading…
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Changing stanchions will help get a grip on Metro
Many Metro riders, especially shorter ones, know that at rush hour it can be hard to find a handhold. Barcelona’s Metro seems to have hit upon a solution. Keep reading…
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Status quo wastes Montgomery’s Glenmont Metro investment
Recently, the Gazette discussed the future of the Glenmont Shopping Center. This site serves as a golden opportunity for a White Flint-style suburban-to-urban retrofit. Such a move towards environmental and economic sustainability would just be plain Smart. As the article alludes, the shopping center is currently underutilized. It has acres of seldom-used… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: The expansive, expensive parking lot
70 percent empty? Mission accomplished; Parking policy goes mainstream; Making payment a pleasure?; Live Free and Stop on NH; Dumbstruck; VDOT chooses parking and riding over TOD. Keep reading…
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On the calendar: Happy hours, festivals, and a bike race/scavenger hunt
Streetcar Happy Hour: The Sierra Club and streetcar supporters are holding a happy hour on Wednesday, August 18th, beginning at 6:00 pm on the second floor of SOVA, which is located at 1359 H Street NE. Keep reading…
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Struck in DC this week: 13 pedestrians, 3 cyclists
“Safety is number one at DDOT…The pedestrian is the most vulnerable because they’re the slowest and they have no armor. The cyclist is second-most vulnerable. And so you really have to…make sure that you’re protecting the most vulnerable people first.” - DDOT Director Gabe Klein on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, August 4, 2010. Keep reading…
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Overregulation of Silver Spring plaza harms vibrancy
Urban spaces thrive on spontaneity. We might want to impose rules on a park or plaza to make it seem safer or more pristine, but excessive regulations could kill the vibrancy that people go there for. Sometimes, we have to let people police themselves. Millions of dollars of public and private funding have gone into downtown Silver Spring over the past ten years, bringing with it… Keep reading…
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Can a toll serve as an effective growth boundary in Virginia?
It’s a commonly accepted axiom among many of the contributors of this blog that freeway tolls help drivers internalize the cost of their housing and transportation decisions. Could Virginia use tolls as a substitute for a statutory growth boundary? Tolls are one item in the cost-shifting bucket sometimes available to governments to affect demand, along with “vehicle-miles… Keep reading…