Noah Kazis
Noah joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter at the start of 2010. When he was a kid, he collected subway paraphernalia in a Vignelli-map shoebox.
Before coming to Streetsblog, he blogged at TheCityFix DC and worked as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Toledo, Ohio. Noah graduated from Yale University, where he wrote his senior thesis on the class politics of transportation reform in New York City. He lives in Morningside Heights.
Recent Posts
Delaware Gov Signs Bill to Protect Cyclists and Pedestrians
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Delaware governor Jack Markell signs the state’s vulnerable users law yesterday. Photo: WHYY Yesterday brought a big victory for street safety and traffic justice in Delaware, as Governor Jack Markell signed SB 269, the state’s vulnerable users law. Jeff Peel, writing on the League of American Bicyclists blog, explains: The bill, modeled after an Oregon […]
New York City Gets Its First “Pop-up Café,” Similar to SF’s Parklets
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Nicole Russo of the Downtown Alliance, David Byrne, and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan enjoy coffee and mango lassis at Pearl Street’s new pop-up café. Photo: Noah Kazis The narrow streets of Lower Manhattan date back centuries and pose a set of challenges nearly unique in New York City. With the city’s first "pop-up café," DOT […]
Chicago Commuter Rail Spends Big on Trucking
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Chicago’s commuter rail agency will be raising this bridge to help trucks pass underneath, relying exclusively on transit funding. Photo: The Urbanophile Transit funding these days is, needless to say, scarce. Across the country, transit agencies are slashing services to cope with the gaping fiscal holes left by the recession. More than ever, every dollar […]
House Approves Transpo Spending Bill After Stripping Out $ for Livability
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Congressmen Oberstar and Blumenauer, here speaking together at the 2007 Bike Summit, were on opposite sides of a dispute about increased funding for livability programs yesterday. Photo: Bike Portland The House of Representatives passed its 2011 appropriations bill for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development yesterday, significantly increasing the amount going to both highways and […]
500 Square Miles Lost to New Jersey Sprawl Over 20 Years
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New development in New Jersey’s Warren County. Image: John Hasse via Planners Web. The last decade has often been heralded as a "back to the cities" moment, a time when Americans have been excited to return to the walkable lifestyle many abandoned two generations before. A new report from New Jersey’s Rutgers and Rowan Universities […]
Sales Tax Hike Could Save Olympia’s Transit System
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If transit supporters don’t turn out at the polls, service in Thurston County will plummet by about 25 percent compared to levels made possible by a small sales tax hike. Image: Seattle Transit Blog It may be the middle of summer, but if you’re paying attention, it’s already election season. With a string of primaries […]
More Space for Parking Than Offices at Boston-Area TOD
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A proposal to build new office and residential space near the end of Boston’s Green Line will also triple the amount of parking at the station. Photo: HelveticaFanatic/Flickr Another city, another would-be transit-oriented development undermined by a glut of parking. This time it’s Newton, Massachusetts, where plans are underway to build 420,000 square feet of […]
FTA: American Transit Systems Need $77.7 Billion in Repairs
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Transit systems need billions of dollars to reach a state of good repair. Image: FTA Americans who ride trains and buses are suffering the effects of a huge maintenance backlog, according to a new study by the Federal Transit Administration [PDF]. It would take a down payment of $77.7 billion to bring the nation’s transit […]
Finding the Buses That Need a Speed Boost
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Mapping bus speeds in Washington, D.C. Slower lines show up as dark blue. Image: Greater Greater Washington A fresh look at old information can sometimes be all you need to better understand a knotty problem. And a fresh look is exactly what the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority provided with a new set of bus […]
Atlanta Releases Nation’s Largest Survey of Transit Riders
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Atlanta’s transit riders tend to be lower-income residents, a new survey shows. Image: Atlanta Regional Commission. Who takes transit? That’s what the Atlanta Regional Commission is trying to figure out with what it calls the largest-ever survey of riders in the United States. The commission spoke to 50,000 transit riders, a full ten percent of […]
Senators Aim to Reintroduce Transportation Into Climate Bill Debate
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Sen. Jeff Merkley projects that his legislation would allow the United States to almost completely stop importing oil, primarily by reforming our transportation system. Image: Office of Sen. Merkley [PDF]. As the threat of a Republican filibuster continues to prevent the Senate from passing climate legislation, leading Democrats have tried to scale back their proposal […]
Car-Dependent States Hit Hardest by Obesity Epidemic
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States where more people drive to work face an even worse obesity crisis. Graphic: Noah Kazis and Carly Clark Transportation is a public health issue. As profiled in the recently released report from the Trust for America’s Health, "F as in Fat," obesity rates continue to rise across the nation, increasing the risk of serious […]