Transit, bicycling, and pedestrian programs will be increasingly important in order to meet the country’s future transportation needs. That’s one conclusion that can be drawn from a new report by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) called Beyond Traffic.
U.S. DOT Study “Beyond Traffic” Calls for More Transit, Biking, Walking More »
Our wallets may feel a bit heaver these days, due to the current five-year low in U.S. gasoline prices (to under $2 per gallon in some locations). These same low gas prices, though, also produce some unexpected negative consequences. Two new studies demonstrate, specifically, how low gas prices impact transit ridership and property values.
The impact of autonomous – driverless – vehicles is still a ways in the future, according to projections made in a new report by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI).
Fully Driverless Cars Will Be Ready in 2060, Report Finds More »
The past decade has seen an explosion in shared-use mobility. Bikeshare, carshare, and rideshare services have become welcome transportation options for Americans. They are even leading people to rethink the need for car ownership altogether. But how well do these new services connect low-income Americans with jobs and opportunities? They could do better, according to a report from ITDP and Living Cities.
Transit is a very safe form of transportation, not only in terms of safety from accidents, but also in terms of personal security from crimes and theft. A new study authored by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute argues that the narrative for transit needs to be changed to emphasize this fact.
Urbanization – migration away from the suburbs and to the central city – will be the biggest real estate trend in 2015, according to a new report from ULI and PwC. The Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, in its 36th year of publication, makes projections in commercial and residential real estate for the coming year.
There are a lot of reasons to be frustrated with the federal government, but making Americans’ commutes longer has got to be one of the worst. And yes it’s true, the federal government is Subsidizing Congestion. That’s the name of the report by TransitCenter and The Frontier Group that describes the numerous ways in which a relatively obscure U.S. tax policy impacts commuters.
In real estate, the smartest move for developers is to build and invest in cities that have multiple transportation options. To be competitive, embrace transit-oriented development (TOD). Those are two main takeaways of a report from Cushman and Wakefield exploring 10 major cities (Mexico City, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Washington D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco) experiencing rapid population growth. The most prosperous were those that were transit oriented.
Cities that Embrace Transit-Oriented Development Prosper More »
An employment opportunity brought Matt Smith (above), a 30-year old business-development manager, to the Washington D.C. area from Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania in 2009. He chose to live in Arlington because of its urban feel and plethora of transportation options. “Arlington feels like D.C. to me, but it’s cleaner and greener,” said Smith, who works at goDCgo in the same suite as Mobility Lab. “I hear people complain about the Metro here and I just don’t get it. We don’t have anything like that where I’m from.”
As driving habits change, places that cater to millennials thrive More »
Transportation choice in America is largely a product of where one lives, which is both directly and indirectly dependent upon core values and attitudes. This is a major finding in TransitCenter’s Who’s on Board: The 2014 Mobility Attitudes Survey, and it supports the idea that transportation and land use are inextricably linked.
Washington D.C. is the most walkable metropolitan area in the U.S., according to a report by George Washington University and Smart Growth America. The District’s number-one ranking has surprised some, prompting them to ask how D.C. was able to surpass places such as New York City, which not only contains one of the best subway systems in the world but also that epitome of walkability known as Manhattan.
Transit would be better served if the pay-per-ride and unlimited fare schemes that currently dominate were expanded to include more fine-tuned pricing structures similar to those offered by cell phone companies. That was the idea that won the recent second annual Outside the Box transportation conference and competition.
The mainstreaming of bicycling is nothing short of a comeback story in the United States. Bicycle ridership generally is up, and so is bike commuting, particularly in some key urban markets. In automobile-congested but bicycle-friendly regions such as New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., the ability of bikes to outmaneuver automobiles and avoid headache-inducing traffic is envied and admired.
Bicycling Gains Could Eventually Put U.S. Cities on Par with Copenhagen More »
We have been taught to hate sprawl in America, yet, in the past 10 years, our country has become, on average, slightly more sprawling than in the decade prior.
Arlington County TOD Linked to Health, Sprawl Study Says More »
High-speed rail (HSR) is gaining momentum in the United States, with many projects in various stages of planning. California’s controversial and groundbreaking high-speed rail line, which will link San Francisco and Los Angeles, is expected to begin construction this summer.
High-Speed Rail is a Key to U.S. Economic Competitiveness More »
