Infrastructure
Denver’s park-and-rides increase emissions, says study
Park-and-rides — parking lots located near transit depots where drivers drop off their cars and embark on public transit — are meant to limit car-produced pollution, but they may not be all they’re cracked up to be, according to a recent study. The study, “Are park-and-rides saving the environment or just saving parking costs?”, hails from the University […]
Understudied but omnipresent: the economics of parking
Cars are parked for a staggering 95% of the time, and can even create problems that are just as serious as when they are parked compared to when they’re in motion — yet there are very few studies available on the economics of parking. In reality, parking problems are more complicated than drivers just nabbing […]
Caltrans scrambles to keep up with transportation trends
SNL’s “The Californians” pokes fun at the Golden State’s obsession with freeways and car culture, but the show’s writers may have to revise their scripts. Californians are walking and biking twice as much as they did ten years ago, according to the most recent household survey conducted by the California Department of Transportation. Caltrans, as […]
Florida DOT chief Ananth Prasad’s legacy
Florida Department of Transportation secretary Ananth Prasad will be leaving his office on January 2, announced Florida governor Rick Scott last week. “Secretary Prasad has been part of my administration since the very beginning, and he has been pivotal to making sure we could make a record investment of over $10 billion in our transportation […]
Study suggests solutions to highway trust fund problems
A new report released by the Eno Center for Transportation suggests that not only is our country’s Highway Trust Fund broke, but the way Congress has been repeatedly infusing it with life-saving cash may also be illegal. The study, The Life and Death of the Highway Trust Fund, takes a look at what led the […]
Funding gaps threaten transportation projects of all sizes
The struggles of the federal Highway Trust Fund continue to affect states and regions throughout the United States. The fuel taxes that power the fund haven’t increased in two decades; here’s what a few state and local governments are reporting about their transportation finance situations. Texas Despite the passage of Proposition 1, which will funnel […]
Fee set to punish hybrid & EV owners in Wisconsin
A new proposal in Wisconsin would mean that the state would join four other states in effectively punishing electric vehicle owners in order to compensate for the revenue lost in fuel taxes, reports the Associated Press. Proposed by Governor Scott Walker’s office, the $50 yearly charge — which was included in a $750 million package […]
Transportation spending doesn’t fit public’s needs, study finds
We may be on the cusp of 2015, but transportation policies of state and federal governments are stuck in 2005, says the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG). In a study released by the organization in September, researchers discovered that Americans drive no more in total than they did in 2005 and no more on […]
NC to recommend new fees affecting developers, billboard companies
On Thursday, November 6, the North Carolina Board of Transportation will vote on recommendations to implement fees affecting developers and billboard companies. The board’s action follows its October 1 meeting, when Mike Holder, chief engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), recommended the fees. Currently, developers and outdoor advertisers pay fees to local governments for […]
How construction permits affect San Franciscans’ parking
Street parking is becoming an even hotter commodity in San Francisco, a city known for its scarcity of spots, reports SFGate. Why? A construction boom is the city is responsible for eating up parking spaces, as stretches of curbside parking are blocked off as tow-away zones for weeks and months at a time so that […]
Guardrails off the market due to safety & fraud concerns
A guardrail company will, for the time being, stop selling a product that has been found to impale auto occupants in crashes. Trinity Industries’ guardrails, which had already been banned in 13 states and counting as of last week, will be off the market until “further testing” can be done, reports the New York Times. […]