Why didn't I catch onto this whole linking thing earlier? Are these link lists boring for you guys?1. Human Transit has a great post on "density" and all the different ways to measure it, with a cool picture of sprawling apartment buildings that illustrates why transit use in the Las Vegas … [Read more...]
The folly of measuring transportation costs per passenger-mile
When comparing costs of various modes of transit, units measured "per passenger-mile" are very common. It makes sense intuitively – people take trips of varying length, and longer trips are more expensive than shorter trips, so the desire to standardize and compare makes us want to simply divide … [Read more...]
Environmentalism vs. density
Recently I was reading an article about the death-by-delay of an upzoning proposal near a train station in Boston because the property might have been "considered 'priority habitat' for rare species, including the eastern box turtle," and I thought about all the times I've heard of opponents of … [Read more...]
Weekend links
Links, links, links!1. The Washington City Paper has a great expose on street food in DC called "Inside D.C.'s Food-Truck Wars" with the subtitle "How some of Washington's most powerful interests are trying to curb the city's most popular new cuisine."2. Mary Newsom at the Charlotte Observer … [Read more...]
The Great American Streetcar Myth
by Stephen SmithAmong liberals in the planning profession today, the story of the Great American Streetcar Conspiracy is widely known. There are more nuanced variants, but it goes something like this: Streetcars were once plentiful and efficient, but then along came a bunch of car and oil … [Read more...]
Building what you can
by Stephen SmithBLDG blog has a cool post about a book by two architects about "minor development," or small construction projects that don't require planning permission – things like sheds, garages, and extensions. It talks about recent legal changes in Europe that have encouraged this sort of … [Read more...]
A comment on rolling stock protectionism
by Stephen SmithIn response to an article I posted yesterday about protectionism in public transit procurement, frequent commenter Alon Levy left this great comment about the history of rolling stock procurement in the US:What happened in the 1970s was that the rolling stock market shrank, … [Read more...]
Internalizing positive transit externalities
by Stephen SmithThe Wall Street Journal ran an article a few days ago claiming that the MTA's recent NYC transit cuts have lowered real estate prices along train and bus lines that have been axed. While it's not a quantitative study, the anecdotes are compelling: "The buyer who buys in Astoria … [Read more...]