This report identifies infrastructure priorities identified by local and regional leaders around the nation. Conclusions provide an important set of guideposts about priorities the new administration should take into account in crafting a national infrastructure strategy.
Whether you ride a bike full time or part time, just for fun or for transportation, BikeHouston’s new executive director wants to make it safer to ride a bike in Houston. It’s why he left New York to come here.
A recently released traffic index shows the dramatic effect remote work and stay-at-home orders had on congestion levels in more than 400 cities around the world, including 80 in the U.S. Houston saw 33% less traffic in 2020 than in 2019, and the congestion level dropped from 24% to 16%. But as the COVID-19 vaccine is more widely distributed and driving habits move toward pre-pandemic levels, the declines are expected to disappear.
Pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for 38% of all roadway deaths in Houston in 2019 — a 3% increase from 2018. Overall, 647 people were killed in fatal crashes in the Houston area in 2019, according to NHTSA data released in December. Prioritizing speed on local roads is the dangerous status quo in the U.S., but many cities are taking action to try and make safety the priority.
BCycle rolls out the first batch of its electric bikes, which could help riders go farther and choose to bike more often. The boost from the e-bikes, along with plans to install more docking stations, should extend the network’s reach and improve access to biking for many in the city.
According to LINK Houston’s “Equity in Transit: 2020” report, roughly 867,000 Houston residents live in areas warranting more affordable transportation options for people who walk, bike and ride public transit. Transit plays a central role in connecting people to jobs, education, health care and many other opportunities.
The Miracle on 14th Street demonstrates how taking a tiny fraction of road space from car traffic and giving it to bus travel is inherently equitable. And charging a very high price to cars for using scarce road space promotes equity and safety.
Main Street in Ventura, California, which has been closed to cars and opened to restaurants and other businesses affected by the coronavirus, is my favorite street. This essay is both a discussion of what makes a great street and a personal reminiscence about what this particular street means to me.
Our public transportation systems were built on a foundation of racism, and the only way to truly fix them may be to raze them and rebuild from the ground up.
Janis Scott cares deeply about transit equity. Known in the community as the “Bus Lady,” Scott has been riding METRO all of her life and considers public transit her lifeline to the world.
All transit agencies must grapple with committing the resources necessary to effectively identify inequity and address it. In 2020, the mandate to ensure an equitable transportation system is more urgent than ever.
From funding, planning and infrastructure, to design and policing, many transit agencies essentially have built two systems with different standards for “choice” and “dependent” riders (that is to say white and Black).
Since mid-March, ridership has plummeted and there’s concern about a “transit death spiral.” But new studies show that public transportation isn’t a major source of coronavirus transmission.
David Fields is the City of Houston’s first chief transportation planner. Leaving the Bay Area for this newly created position, he arrived in Houston at a time, though, when transportation was changing.
Traffic levels fell dramatically throughout the Houston metro area as people were ordered to stay at home and businesses were closed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 — and it worked. But, as the economy was reopened and people returned to work, restaurants, bars, beaches and more, traffic levels and infection rates increased.