Transportation

Bike Theft Discourages People From Riding Bikes

August 26, 2024 Maylin Tu, Next City. Create! Bikes, New York City (NYC), Safety, Transportation

In 2019, I rode my bike about one mile to the metro station and locked it to a bike rack out front. Then, I took the train to a friend’s party. When I got back, my bike was gone. I couldn’t afford to buy a new bike, so I went without one for the next two years. It’s a familiar scenario for many bike riders. In a city like L.A., bike theft feels as everyday as sunny skies and fruit carts selling delicious sliced mango and watermelon. One report estimates that a whopping two million bikes are stolen every year in America. Many people don’t replace their bikes, a fact that Brooklyn-based cyclist and entrepreneur Shabazz Stuart often cites. “It’s just the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” he says.

Why So Many Congestion Pricing Critics Change Their Tune

August 4, 2024 Akielly Hu, Next City. Create! Air Quality, climate crisis, Finance and the Economy, Fossil Fuels, New York City (NYC), Transportation, Urban Design

New York City’s plan to charge most vehicles $15 to enter downtown Manhattan would have eased traffic, cut pollution, and raised billions for mass transit. But Governor Kathy Hochul — in an 11th-hour reversal — placed congestion pricing on hold indefinitely, leaving a $15 billion gap in the city’s transit upgrade plans. Hochul, a Democrat, cited a slow economic recovery from the pandemic and the burden the tolls would place on low-income residents, but sources say she also feared upsetting swing district voters who could decide key elections this fall. Most people balk at the idea of paying more for anything, and congestion pricing plans are no exception.

Report: People Want To Ride Shared Bikes And Scooters

July 30, 2024 Maylin Tu, Next City. Create! EBikes, Scooters, Transportation, Urban Design

People want to ride bikes and scooters, per a new report on shared micromobility from the National Association of City Transportation Officials. It’s hardly a revelation — but many cities have yet to match rider enthusiasm with the financial investment, political will and physical infrastructure that it takes to keep bike and scooter share going. “It’s a really popular form of public transportation and people are using it that way,” says Camille Boggan, program manager of policy and practice for NACTO. In the U.S. and Canada, people took 157 million rides in 2023. That’s a 20% increase from the previous year, beating the previous pre-pandemic record of 147 million rides in 2019.

Gatwick Is Being Hit By Just Stop Oil As Departures Threatened

July 29, 2024 The Canary. Resist! Airports, climate crisis, Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty, Just Stop Oil, Transportation, United Kingdom (UK)

Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted Gatwick departures at the airport. Just Stop Oil is working with groups internationally under the ‘Oil Kills’ banner to demand governments establish a fossil fuel treaty, to end the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030. At around 8am on Monday 29 July, seven supporters of Just Stop Oil entered the Southern terminal at Gatwick and used suitcases with lock-on devices to block the Gatwick departures gates. The Oil Kills international uprising has been taking action at airports around the world – with Gatwick departures being the latest. As the Canary has documented, 21 groups across 12 countries have taken action at 17 airports so far.

Drivers Rally After Getting Kicked Out Of Uber And Lyft Apps

July 25, 2024 Justine Re, Spectrum News. Resist! Gig Economy, Gig Workers, Lyft, Manhattan, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), Strikes, Transportation, Uber

Rideshare drivers rallied at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan Wednesday, protesting getting locked out of the Uber and Lyft apps on their shifts. They chanted, “No drivers, no Uber.” In order to operate, the Taxi and Limousine Commission said Uber and Lyft, combined, need to have passengers riding in their cars 53% of the time. In March 2023, the TLC adjusted the pay formula for the apps for the “empty time component.” That is, the time drivers spend on duty waiting to dispatch with no passenger in their car. City regulations require drivers to be compensated for the time they’re waiting for a dispatch. Uber and Lyft locked drivers out of the app during their shifts.

What We Can Learn From Cities With Transit-Oriented Development

July 25, 2024 Shonda Wang, Next City. Create! Canada, Japan, Public transportation, tokyo, Toronto, Transportation, Urban Design

In my early twenties, I lived in Chofu, a city of over 240,000 people on the west side of Tokyo Metropolis. My apartment building was less than a 10-minute walk from Chofu Station, which is at the center of a bustling, fully “amenitized” mini-city, with easy pedestrian access to an urban-scale grocery store, ever-busy retail shops and restaurants, multiple schools, and small-but-mighty parks. Walking and taking transit every day was easy, and without question, my mode of choice. That was more than 20 years ago, but the memories of Tokyo’s transit system and the feelings I had experiencing it stayed with me. And they’ve informed my efforts to build vibrant, livable communities around — and integrated with — public transit stations in Vancouver, Toronto and Mexico.

New Virginia-North Carolina Intercity Rail Line Starts Construction

July 16, 2024 Dan Zukowski, Smart Cities Dive. Create! North Carolina, railroals, Transportation, Virginia

Richmond and Raleigh are among the five busiest train stations in the Southeast, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority said in a Feb. 28 press release. The S-Line project is among the two states’ ambitious plans to expand intercity passenger rail. Last December, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded grants to the North Carolina DOT from the federal Corridor Identification and Development Program for seven corridors. Three radiate out from Charlotte, three from Raleigh, and one would connect Asheville and Salisbury, North Carolina. “The roads are just as congested as they were before [the COVID-19 pandemic],” said Mike McLaughlin, chief operating officer at the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, speaking about the growth of rail ridership in the region.

When Transit Riders Refuse To Just Sit Back

July 11, 2024 J. Patrick Patterson, In These Times. Strategize! Public transportation, Transit Riders Unions, Transportation, Unions

Public transportation benefits everyone, and many people rely on buses and trains daily to get to work or school. But despite high-quality public transportation being so important for people and the planet, government doesn’t always adequately invest in it. “The analogy with labor unions is interesting because it’s obviously different in the sense that we don’t all work for the same employer, we can’t strike and bargain with our employer for benefits,” Katie Wilson said in 2012, six months after helping form the Seattle Transit Riders Union. “But it’s more of a political thing. This is the new working poor, organizing and trying to win political gains.”

Transit Workers Demand ‘Fix Our Schedules,’ Packing Board Meeting

July 9, 2024 Michael Sebastian and Richard Marcantonio, Labor Notes. Resist! California, Oakland, Transit, Transportation, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

“Fix our schedules.” That’s the demand that filled the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit board room in Oakland, California, beyond capacity on June 5. Bus operators are “not able to have a break,” Transit (ATU) Local 192 President LaTrina Meredith said, opening two hours of public comment. “They’re trying to make a schedule that is unsafe. They won’t drink water because they don’t have time to use the restroom.” Dozens of drivers spoke. For busy bus lines, despite the 15-minute layover on paper, in reality “we get there maybe six or seven minutes after,” said Linda Muhammad, who has 20 years of experience. “And then we have to secure the bus, answer questions, run to the bathroom, come back, load up, and when we load up, we’re usually pulling out late.”

Chicago’s Unique Bike Giveaway Program Is A Win

July 6, 2024 Lucas Frisancho, Next City. Create! Bicycles, Chicago, Low Income, Transportation

When the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) launched its Bike Chicago program in the summer of 2022, the city began working on its goal to promote active transportation and target “mobility hardship” by injecting working-class communities with free access to cycling. Now, a report on the first two years of the country’s biggest free bike distribution program says it’s proven an “effective, cost-efficient model for getting bicycles into users’ hands for transportation” in disinvested neighborhoods. “First and foremost, it’s an incredible program,” says Pete Lauer, program manager at the nonprofit Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC), which promotes equitable and ecological alternatives to car-centric transport.

Hawaii To Decarbonize Transportation In Youth Climate Change Settlement

June 22, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Resist! Carbon emissions, climate crisis, Hawaii, Transportation, Victory, Youth Activism

On Thursday, Hawaii agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by 13 young people alleging the state had violated their constitutional rights with infrastructure that adds to greenhouse (GHG) emissions, exacerbating climate change. In the settlement, the state agreed to decarbonize its transportation system by 2045. At a news conference, Governor of Hawaii Josh Green, a Democrat, called the settlement “groundbreaking,” reported Reuters. “We’re addressing the impacts of climate change today, and needless to say, this is a priority because we know now that climate change is here,” Green said, as Reuters reported. “It is not something that we’re considering in an abstract way in the future.”

What Paris Can Teach Other Cities About Removing Roads

June 10, 2024 Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet, Next City. Create! Environment, France, Paris, Roads, Transportation, Urban Design, Walkable Cities

Can removing a road make it easier to drive more freely elsewhere? A major study of 63 roads and squares closed to motor traffic in various European cities (mainly in Britain and Germany) suggests that it does. In many cases, cars disappeared altogether, rather than being displaced into parallel streets, lessening the dreaded congestion. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, made the same claim, but the court disagreed, holding that the research was inadequate. However, actual measures of traffic levels before and after the road closure along the Seine, announced the week the court handed down its decision, indicated a reduction in motor traffic in nearby areas.

Electric Trains Are The Powerhouse Electric Vehicles

June 4, 2024 High Speed Rail Alliance. Create! climate crisis, Electric Vehicles, Energy, Railroads, Trains, Transportation

Lawmakers and business leaders alike are touting electric cars as a game-changer for climate change. And it’s true that cutting carbon pollution from vehicles is critical. The transportation sector accounts for about 29 percent of greenhouse-gas pollution in the US. The on-road emissions in Texas alone account for nearly ½ of 1 percent of all carbon-dioxide pollution globally. But the hype around electric cars is misplaced. Electric trains are the true powerhouse EV in the fight against climate change. And it’s not even close. Data from the UK shows that the national rail system is about 25% more energy efficient than electric cars, and London’s subway system is about 40% more efficient.

Essential Voices For The Turn Away From Car Dependency

May 24, 2024 Bart Hawkins Kreps, Resilience. Organize! Car-Free Community, Disability Rights, Transportation, Urban Design

In forward-thinking municipalities across North America, elected officials and staff members can learn important lessons by taking on the Week Without Driving Challenge. As Anna Letitia Zivarts describes it, “participants have to try to get around for a week without driving. They can take transit, walk, roll, bike, or ask or pay for rides as they try to keep to their regular schedules ….” In most municipalities, the challenge leads to a difficult but eye-opening week. That’s because in most areas getting around without driving is inconvenient, dangerous, very time-consuming, or next to impossible. As Zivarts writes, Even for participants who might already bike, walk or take transit for some of their weekly trips, we’ve heard that the experience has helped them comprehend the difference between taking the easy trips and taking all trips without driving.

The Fight To Reclaim Texas’ Highways For People

May 16, 2024 Maylin Tu, Next City. Resist! Cars, Highways, Housing, Texas, Transportation, Urban Design

Freeways rip apart neighborhoods, displace primarily Black and Brown people and increase greenhouse gas emissions — so why do we keep building them? According to a new book from Austin-based journalist Megan Kimble, “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways,” it doesn’t have to be this way. Right now, a new generation of freeway fighters is battling freeway expansion across the country. Kimble’s book profiles three campaigns in Texas to build places for people, not cars: Stop TxDOT I-45 in Houston, Rethink35 in Austin and the campaign to remove the I-345 highway in Dallas.

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