LA at DawnGeographer at English Wikipedia., CC BY 1.0I visited Los Angeles last month, and I fully intended to take transit from my aunt's house in Long Beach to a meeting downtown and another in Westwood. With a reality check from Google Maps, she talked me out of it and lent me her car. It's … [Read more...]
The “outer boroughs” myth
One argument against bus lanes, bicycle lanes, congestion pricing, elimination of minimum parking requirements, or indeed almost any transportation improvement that gets in the way of high-speed automobile traffic is that such changes to the status quo might make sense in the Upper West Side, but … [Read more...]
Automobiles Seeded the Massive Coronavirus Epidemic in New York City
New York City is an epicenter of the global novel coronavirus pandemic. Through April 16, there were 1,458 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in New York City. Always in the media eye, and larger than any other American city, New York City has become the symbol of the crisis, even as suburban … [Read more...]
Interview with Onésimo Flores, Founder of Jetty
In this interview I talk to Onésimo Flores, Founder of Jetty, a (sort-of) microtransit company from Mexico City.Marcos Schlickmann: Thank you for participating in this interview. Please introduce yourself and talk a little bit about how Jetty came to life and what is your idea behind this … [Read more...]
A great new paper on how government fights walking
Many readers of this blog know that government subsidizes driving- not just through road spending, but also through land use regulations that make walking and transit use inconvenient and dangerous. Gregory Shill, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, has written an excellent … [Read more...]
Any Green New Deal Must Tackle Zoning Reform
With the Democrats scrambling to come up with a legislative agenda after their November takeover of the House of Representatives, an old idea is making a comeback: a “Green New Deal.” Once the flagship issue of the Green Party, an environmental stimulus package is now a cause de celebre among the … [Read more...]
“Order Without Design”, a new guide to urban planning
This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding. This is how Jane Jacobs opened her 1961 classic “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. It wouldn’t be an inappropriate opener for Alain Bertaud’s upcoming “Order Without Design”.While Jacobs was an observer of how cities … [Read more...]
Three Policies for Making Driverless Cars Work for Cities
Some urbanists have become skeptical about the future of autonomous vehicles even as unstaffed, autonomous taxis are now serving customers in Phoenix and Japan. Others worry that AVs, if they are ever deployed widely, will make cities worse. Angie Schmitt posits that allowing AVs in cities without … [Read more...]