One for the record books! Dramatic Drop in U.S. Highway Fatalities in 2009; Lowest Since 1950

Posted by transportgooru on September 9, 2010 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Governance, Highways, ITS/Telematics, Infrastructure, Motorcycles & Scooters, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Travel

The Transportation Department said late Wednesday that traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest number since 1950. In 2008, an estimated 37,423 people died on the highways.

Tags: Aggressive Driving, drunk driving, Highway Fatality Statistics, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Texting while driving, USDOT

Wanna be skinny & healthy? Forget those crazy diets and take public transportation

Posted by transportgooru on August 20, 2010 in Automotives, Governance, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Transit, Travel

People who live or work in communities with high quality public transportation tend to drive significantly less and rely more on alternative modes (walking,cycling and public transit) than they would in more automobile-oriented areas. This reducestraffic crashes and pollution emissions, increases physical fitness and mental health, andprovides access to medical care and healthy food. These impacts are significant in magnitude compared with other planning objectives, but are often overlooked or undervalued inconventional transport planning.

Tags: America Public Transportation Association, APTA, buses, Environment, HCR, Health, Health care, Healthcare, livability, Physical activity, Physical exercise, Pollution, public transportation, Smart Growth, Trains, Transit, Transport, United States, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, VTPI, Walking

Making a community together… to design a street – Street Films documents London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets

Posted by transportgooru on August 19, 2010 in Education, Governance, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues

Making a community together… to design a street – Street Films documents London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets

Tags: Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets, DYI Streets, London, Street Design, StreetFilms, Sustrans, Traffic Calming, Traffic Control, Transportation and Logistics, UK, Wales

Event Alert: Transportation Systems for Livable Communities Conference @ Washington, DC – Oct. 18-19, 2010

Posted by transportgooru on August 17, 2010 in Automotives, Energy, Environment, Events, Governance, Highways, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Special Events, Transit, Travel

TRB is sponsoring the Transportation Systems for Livable Communities Conference on October 18-19, 2010, in Washington, D.C. The conference is being supported by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. The livability concept embraces cognate notions such as sustainability, quality of life, the character of place, the health of communities, and more. The conference is designed to bring together researchers and practitioners interested in this topic and will provide a timely opportunity to share research results, explore practical challenges, and identify potentially promising directions for future research. Space for this confernece is limited. Early bird registration ends August 26, 2010.

Tags: livability, Livable communities, Research, Research and Innovative TEchnology Administration, RITA, Transportation Planning, Transportation Research Board, TRB, Washington D.C.

Test your mountain-biking skills in this downtown Seattle park

Posted by transportgooru on July 31, 2010 in Environment, Highways, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Society/Social Issues

Tags: Bike and Pedestrian, Biking, I-5 Colonnade, Interstate 5, Mountain Biking, Seattle, WA

Germans throw the biggest damn block party EVER.. on the Autobahn!!!

Posted by transportgooru on July 19, 2010 in Automotives, Energy, Environment, Funny Stuff, Highways, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Society/Social Issues, Travel

On July 18th, Germany shut down its busiest Autobahn for celebrating life – appropriately titled “Still-Life A40″. The “Still Life” festival on Sunday in the Ruhr region in western Germany offered some surreal images and video footage of the autobahn without cars and overrun with pedestrians.

A 37-mile stretch of Germany’s famous highway system, between Dortmund and Duisburg, was closed to motor vehicles for the street festival and replaced by a line of 20,000 tables, reports The Guardian. Around three million people attended the event.

Tags: 2010 European Capital of Culture, Autobahn, Autobahn A/40Europe, Dortmund, Duisburg, Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr, Still Life A40/B1, Still-life RUHR.2010 Ruhrschnellweg, United States

NYC, say hello to the Hoop – Beautiful bike rack adds to City streets’ charm

Posted by transportgooru on July 14, 2010 in Environment, Gizmos News (via Gizmodo), Governance, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Society/Social Issues, Travel

“Residents with an eye for detail will notice that the city’s newly designed bike rack, the NYC Hoop, is starting to make its presence felt on the streets, as the city tests various securing methods to both sidewalks and subway grates. Designers Ian Mahaffy and Maarten De Greeve (of Denmark’s Bettlelab) won the 2008 CityRacks Design Competition, coordinated by theNYCDOT in collaboration with the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum,Google, and Transportation Alternatives.” This beautiful, easy to use dye cast piece of work is not only easy on the eye but also comes with a very small foot print, making it very suitable for a space crammed uber-Urban environment like NYC.

Tags: Bike Rack, Biking, Cooper–Hewitt National Design Museum, Cycling, Janette Sadik Khan, New York, New York City, New York City Department of Transportation, NYC, NYC Department of Transportation, Smithsonian Institution, Streetscape, The Hoop, Transportation Alternatives

Interesting observations from DC Digital Capital Week Event – Online Engagement for Sustainable Urban Mobility

Posted by transportgooru on June 16, 2010 in Automotives, Education, Energy, Environment, Gizmos News (via Gizmodo), Governance, ITS/Telematics, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Society/Social Issues, Special Events, Transit, Travel

This was a great forum to share/listen best practices, lessons learned, failure stories and ideas of how to put theory into practice, as it relates to the following over-arching questions: What online tools exist in the D.C. area to make transportation more efficient, user-friendly and sustainable? What are some examples of Web-based innovation and collaboration in the D.C. transport sector? How can government, technology and civil society work together to improve the way we move around – by foot, by car, by bike, and by transit – in the nation’s capital?

Tags: DC, DCDOT, DDOT, Digital Capital Week, EMBARQ, Online Citizen Engagement, Open Data, OpenPlans, SeeClickFix, Social Media, Transportation, Washington DC, World Resources Institute, WRI

Event Alert: Get ready to rock your fashionable best – 2010 Seersucker Social @ June 12, 2010

Posted by transportgooru on May 24, 2010 in Environment, Events, Funny Stuff, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Society/Social Issues, Special Events, Travel

[ June 12, 2010; 3:30 pm to 9:30 pm. ] The Seersucker Social, scheduled for Saturday June 12, is set to offer another delightful, unique and alternative entertainment experience by encouraging folks once again to mount their bicycles in high style. While the fall event called for tweed, seersucker has been selected as the ideal vintage fabric of choice to keep cool for the spring ride. Our event partner Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens will provide a fabulous dreamlike setting for the post-ride social.

Tags: Bicycles & Fashion, Biking, Biking in Washington, DC, Entertainment, The Seersucker Social

T4America Explores American Voters’ Transportation Preferences – Future of Transportation A National Survey (2010)

Posted by transportgooru on March 30, 2010 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Finance, Governance, Highways, ITS/Telematics, Infrastructure, Opinion Columns, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Rail, Society/Social Issues, Transit

Today, I came across a tweet from someone that talked about T4America’s latest national poll results that said majority Americans support increased access to public transportation and safe walking and biking. As a curious mind would do it, I went on to explore the survey results and the press release issued by T4America and here is the summary of what I saw: American voters overwhelmingly support broader access to public transportation and safe walking and biking, according to this new national poll conducted for Transportation for America. This must be a ton of good news for pro-transit & bike-ped folks, especially given all the activities that are happening on the next transportation re-authorization bill. My favorite finding of this survey: 79% of rural folks support improved public transportation. Now, who would have expected that from our American voters!

Tags: Future of Transportation A National Survey (2010), Gas Tax, Public Transportation Bike and Pedestrian, T4America, Transit, Transportation Allocation, Transportation for America, Transportation Funding