Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Retired Fire Chief: Make American Firetrucks Fit City Streets, Not Vice Versa
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It’s a sad irony that fire departments, while essential to public safety, are often a major obstacle to safer streets in American cities.
A smaller European fire truck (top) and an oversized American one (bottom). Photos: FireHouse.com
When cities try to redesign streets to reduce traffic injuries and get drivers to travel at safer speeds, the local fire department often steps in to prevent changes that [...]
Parking Madness: Send Us Pics of Parking Lots Where Your City Should Be
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Parking craters that won the whole thing (left to right): Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden.
Does your city have what it takes to compete in Streetsblog’s fourth annual Parking Madness tournament? Who will join Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden, NJ, as winners of the coveted “Golden Crater”?
We’re looking for 16 parking scars blighting American downtowns. One will advance through our bracket to [...]
The Complete Case Against Highway Widening
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Detroit in 1949 versus today. Images: AtDetroit.net
Michigan DOT wants to spend $1 billion rebuilding and widening I-75 to Detroit’s sprawling northern suburbs, at the expense of the city and close-in suburbs. Royal Oak, a walkable suburb that borders the city, is not having it.
The City Council passed a resolution unanimously this week officially opposing the widening [...]
Vision Zero Fail: Austin PD Wants to Ban People From Lingering By Busy Roads
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The Austin Police Department doesn’t seem to understand what Vision Zero is about. Instead of making roads safer by enforcing pedestrians’ right of way or ticketing speeders, police are proposing to ban people from standing by dangerous, high-speed roads.
Austin police want to make it illegal to hang out on certain streets. Photo: Kellie CA via Flickr
As if [...]
Sober Non-Partisan Analysis: America Wastes a Ton of Money on Highways
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Photo: Dhanix/Wikipedia
A good deal of the $46 billion the federal government pours into highway spending each year is going to waste, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report [PDF].
The conclusion won’t surprise regular Streetsblog readers, but it’s the source that’s interesting. The CBO is not an advocacy group or an ideologically-minded think tank. It’s a non-partisan budget watchdog charged [...]
Albuquerque’s Big Choice: Prioritize Streets for Transit, or Stagnate
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Albuquerque is at a pivotal moment that could determine whether it becomes more a walkable and transit-oriented city.
Albuquerque’s BRT project will add center-running bus lanes and frequent service on Central Avenue, the east-west spine of the city’s transit grid. Map: ABQ Ride
The mayor, a Republican, is backing a major bus rapid transit project called ART along the [...]
Houston Unveils a Bold New Citywide Plan for Bicycling
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Houston’s new bike plan envisions a real network instead of disconnected segments. Source: Houston Bike Plan
The same team that helped overhaul Houston’s bus network is turning its attention to the city’s bike network.
This week, recently-elected Mayor Sylvester Turner unveiled the city’s first bike plan since 1993. The plan envisions a network of low-stress bikeways — a welcome improvement over Houston’s previous bike [...]
4 Things Schools Can Do to Reduce the Asthma Threat From Idling Cars
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Lately, American schools have been pretty responsive to public health and safety threats facing children. Witness the rise of peanut butter bans or the dwindling number of vending machines in schools.
Idling near schools can trigger asthma attacks — a leading cause of childhood mortality. So why do so many parents do it? Photo: IdleFreeVermont
But schools haven’t been [...]
Obama’s Last Budget Lays Out a Smart Vision for American Transportation
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The White House released its 2017 budget [PDF] this morning, which includes more detail about the exciting but politically doomed transportation proposal President Obama outlined last week. Obama’s plan doesn’t have a chance in the current Congress, but it shows what national transportation policy centered on reducing greenhouse gas emissions might look like.
If only candidate Obama had campaigned on this transportation [...]
Obama’s Politically Impossible Transpo Plan Is Just What America Needs
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Even with a tax on oil, the U.S.’s effective gas tax rate would be the lowest in the industrialized world. Graph: Tony Dutzik via FHWA
It may be “seven years too late,” as tactical urbanist Mike Lydon put it, but President Obama has released a transportation proposal that calls for big shifts in the country’s spending priorities.
Obama’s proposal would [...]
Which Cities Are Adding Walkable Housing the Fastest?
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Since 1970, most American metros have seen walkable housing decline as a share of total housing. Chart: Kasey Klimes
As more Americans look for walkable places to live, cities are struggling to deliver, and a lot of neighborhoods are becoming less affordable. A new analysis by Kasey Klimes of Copenhagen’s Gehl Studio illustrates how major metro areas have let their [...]
Check Out Austin’s New Polka-Dotted Intersection Neckdowns
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This new painted polka-dot intersection neckdown was design to make a dangerous intersection safer and more comfortable for pedestrians. Photo: Austin Mobility
Safer streets for pedestrians don’t have to be expensive, or boring, for that matter. That’s the lesson from Austin’s new polka-dotted intersection neckdowns.
In an effort to get drivers to slow down and give extra [...]