Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Why Is Transit Ridership Falling?
| | No Comments
Transit ridership took a turn for the worse in 2016. In all but a handful of cities, fewer people rode trains and buses, and it's not just a one-year blip, either. In many American cities, the drop in transit ridership is an established trend. The big question is why.
Think of Trump’s Budget as an Attack on Cities
| | No Comments
Yesterday Donald Trump released a budget outline that calls for severe cuts to transit, and the reaction was swift and scathing. The National Association of City Transportation Officials called it "a disaster" for cities. Transportation for America said it was a "slap in the face" for local communities that have raised funds to expand transit.
Trump’s Budget Takes an Axe to Transit
| | No Comments
The Trump administration has released its budget blueprint, and it's a bloodbath for everything that's not defense spending. In keeping with the budget's general hostility to cities, transit would be hit especially hard.
American Bike-Share Is Growing Quickly — In a Handful of Cities
| | No Comments
Americans made 28 million trips on bike share last year. But the large majority of ridership comes from just a few large cities that have made major investments.
Why Cities Are Starting to Decriminalize Fare Evasion
| | No Comments
With renewed public attention on the excessive criminalization of poor people and people of color, some transit agencies and law enforcement officials are reevaluating their fare evasion policies.
How Engineering Standards for Cars Endanger People Crossing the Street
| | No Comments
At the Landmark Interchange by Fenway Park in Boston, people trying to walk across the street sometimes have to wait as long as two minutes for a signal. And that, says Northeastern University Civil Engineering Professor Peter Furth, is dangerous.
Win Back Transit Riders By Speeding Up Bus Boarding
| | No Comments
One surefire way for U.S. transit agencies to improve bus service is to streamline the boarding process by enabling riders to get on at any door. In a new report, NACTO makes the case for all-door boarding and looks at how American transit agencies are moving forward on implementation.
Transit Ridership Falling Everywhere — But Not in Cities With Redesigned Bus Networks
| | No Comments
Transit ridership decreased in almost every major American city last year. But there were two notable exceptions -- Seattle and Houston. Those two outliers share one thing in common: In addition to expanding light rail, they're both redesigning their bus networks.
America Builds Too Many Schools By Highways
| | No Comments
One in 11 U.S. public schools are within 500 feet of a highway, exposing 4.4 million children to elevated levels of pollution, putting kids at elevated risk of developing asthma. But cheap land remains alluring to school districts, and America's system of school siting is not getting better.
America’s Traffic Death Toll Is a National Disgrace
| | No Comments
More than 40,000 Americans were killed in traffic last year, according to new estimates from the National Safety Council, the worst toll in a decade. The U.S. transportation system claims far more lives each year than peer countries. If America achieved the same fatality rate as the UK, more than 30,000 lives would be saved each year.
Q&A With Dongho Chang, a Traffic Engineer Who Stresses Safety Over Speed
| | No Comments
Dongho Chang belongs to a new generation of transportation engineers who see their job as more than moving cars. His work with Seattle DOT has established the city as a national leader on designing multi-modal streets. We recently spoke to Chang about his work in Seattle and how the profession is changing.
Bicycling Education in the United States Needs an Update
| | No Comments
Thousands of people in North America are exposed to rules of thumb in cycling training courses each year. But how good is the advice?