Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Dallas Council Member: Texas Poised to “Compound Errors of the Past”
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The entire Texas highway machine — suburban real estate moguls, the construction industry, the governor, and the legislature — is pushing voters to approve Prop 7, a constitutional amendment that would mandate spending $2.5 billion in state sales tax revenue on un-tolled roads. The highway interests are telling Texas voters in unison that this measure, if approved in November, will fix congestion [...]
Will Texas Voters Enshrine Failed Transpo Policy in the State’s Constitution?
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When Texas voters go to the polls this November they will decide an issue of enormous consequence to the future of the state.
Adding more lanes isn’t going to fix Texas’s transportation problems. Photo: TxDOT via Houston Matters
A proposed amendment to the state constitution — on the ballot as Proposition 7 — would shift about $2.5 billion in [...]
Do Environmental Reviews for Road Projects Help the Environment?
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It’s been more than 40 years since the National Environmental Policy Act was enacted. In that time, America has built a lot of emissions-inducing, land-devouring highway infrastructure despite the environmental review process mandated by NEPA. It’s fair to ask: When it comes to transportation infrastructure, does environmental review make a difference for the environment?
The $1.1 billion expansion of the [...]
Feds Propose Major Rule Changes to Eliminate Barriers to Safer Streets
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By eliminating outdated design standards, the feds can make it much easier for local governments to design streets like Fifth Street in Dayton, Ohio. Photo: APA
Applying highway design standards to city streets has been a disaster for urban neighborhoods. The same things that make highways safer for driving at 65 mph — wide lanes, “clear zones” running alongside [...]
Without Transit, American Cities Would Take Up 37 Percent More Space
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Even if you never set foot on a bus or a train, chances are transit is saving you time and money. The most obvious reason is that transit keeps cars off the road, but the full explanation is both less intuitive and more profound: Transit shrinks distances between destinations, putting everything within closer reach.
A new study published by the Transportation Research Board quantifies the [...]
The Movement to Eliminate Traffic Deaths Gains Strength in Texas Cities
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Last week, 54 people stood on the steps of San Antonio’s City Hall, one for each pedestrian killed on city streets in the past year. The demonstration marked the start of the city’s Vision Zero effort, aimed at eliminating traffic deaths. Photo: San Antonio Fire Department
Texas cities are some of the most dangerous places in [...]
Park(ing) Day Scenes From Coast to Coast
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Today is a very fun day in cities around the U.S., when advocates for better public spaces unleash their imaginations on the dreary places where we normally store cars. Park(ing) Day is “an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks,” according to its organizers.
Below we are showcasing some [...]
House Dems: We Won’t Support a Transpo Bill That Cuts Bike/Ped Funding
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House Democrats won’t stand for any cuts to federal funding for walking and biking infrastructure. That was the gist of a letter signed by every Democratic member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.
Rick Larsen, a congressman representing parts of Washington state, rallied Democrats to support funding for biking, walking, and transit. Photo: Rick Larsen
Groups aligned [...]
How America’s Staggering Traffic Death Rate Became Matter-of-Fact
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How did more than 30,000 annual motor vehicle deaths become something that most Americans accept as normal? A new paper by Boston University professor Itai Vardi tries to answer that question.
A 1933 publication by Traveler’s Insurance Company pins the blame for traffic deaths on individual decisions without noting structural factors like the skyrocketing rate of driving [...]
Two Highway Lanes Won’t Fix Baton Rouge’s Traffic Problem
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Louisiana’s prescription for traffic congestion in Baton Rouge is to widen a highway and generate more traffic. Image: Louisiana DOTD
Everyone agrees there’s a traffic problem in Baton Rouge, but not everyone is sold on the state’s plan to address it.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s solution, presented this week, is to add two lanes to Interstate 10 [...]
3 Reasons Politicians Like Building New Roads More Than Fixing Old Ones
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The $600 million it will cost to build this one bridge is more than the estimated $500 million needed to bring all of Minnesota’s 1,191 “structurally deficient” bridges into a state of good repair. Guess which project Minnesota is moving ahead with. Image: Minnesota DOT
American transportation policy places a premium on delivering big, shiny new things.
As much as the [...]
Here They Are — The Sad Benches Where No One Wants to Sit
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This lovely “place I don’t want to sit” comes from Drew Ackermann in Gambrills, Maryland. His wife tested it out just for laughs.
Last week, Gracen Johnson over at Strong Towns introduced the phrase “places I don’t want to sit” to describe the lousy, leftover public spaces where someone has plopped down a bench or two as an afterthought. The seating, in these [...]