This morning, a Minnesota Public Radio host asked me if the exurbs, whose growth rate flattened when the recession hit, are going to come back. Lots of people from far-distant suburbs like Blaine and Farmington called in, saying they like the way of life out there – they like having acres of trees buffering them […]

Everyone’s trying to figure out why, after decades of consistent growth, the amount Americans drive is leveling off and even declining. The decline started during the recession, to be sure, but was more dramatic than in previous recessions. As the economy began to get back on its feet, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) just barely ticked […]

The first meeting of the transportation bill conference committee is today at 3:00. (To familiarize yourself with the participants, see Ben’s reports on the House and Senate conferees.) We’ll be live-blogging it, beginning to end. It’s unusual for conferences to meet in public, and leaders have indicated that this won’t be the only meeting they have in front of television […]

Though many transportation reformers, economists and environmentalists would say that gas prices aren’t nearly high enough to disincentivize single-occupancy-vehicle use and to pay for the external harms, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill take it for granted that gas prices are too damn high. In fact, it’s one of the very, very few things that they do agree on these […]

The characters of The West Wing were known, in their heyday, for walking down long hallways and talking a mile a minute without stumbling. Now, six years after the show went off the air, the cast is back — with this tribute to the health benefits of walking. It’s a promotion for EveryBody Walk, a […]

If you ever doubted whether a small investment in biking and walking could have a large impact, here is your proof. The last transportation law, SAFETEA-LU, provided four communities with four years of funding to build an infrastructure network for nonmotorized transportation (a fancy way of saying “sidewalks and bike paths”). It wasn’t a lot […]

Last spring, Ray LaHood’s office approached Streetsblog seeking reader questions for the transportation secretary’s monthly video blog series, On the Go With Ray LaHood. His aides have repeatedly told me that of all the blogs and organizations that got a similar shot, Streetsblog readers were the most engaged and asked the most insightful questions. LaHood […]

The Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t call people walking near railroad tracks “pedestrians.” It calls them “trespassers.” True, a person walking on railroad tracks is often, by definition, breaking the law, since the tracks are private property. But the nomenclature gives the impression that the agency might be somewhat less sympathetic than they should be about […]

If 80 percent of the American people agree that federal infrastructure investment will create jobs, and two-thirds say better infrastructure is important, why is the call for a robust transportation bill being made in whispers? And why is Congress already two and a half years late in producing one? There are many political reasons — […]