The Hub 2/22/2019: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up to date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
PlanPhilly: Illegal parkers beware: Philadelphia wants you out of the crosswalk and off the sidewalk – Philadelphia has long been known for its lawless parking ways. An illegally parked car is not simply an inconvenience, but also a safety hazard for pedestrians. Blocking crosswalks and curb cuts illegally as well as parking on the sidewalk are the targets of #NotAParkingSpot, a twitter campaign hoping to draw the attention of law enforcement to the problem of illegally parked cars.
Smart Growth America: Blind Spots: New research on dangerous, unhealthy corridors– Smart Growth America has released a study that examines why and how dangerous, auto-centric commercial corridors have happened all over the country. Primary commercial arteries are almost always dangerous, and 67% are also unhealthy. Replacing single-use zoning with multi-use zoning and implementing complete streets policies are important tools to make communities safer.
Mobility Lab: Buses are a better substitute for late night rail than subsidized ride-hail trips – The DC metro cut late night rail service in 2016 to make the tracks available for night maintenance. Metro’s solution is currently to give late night riders $3 towards a rideshare service. Unfortunately, this barely makes a dent in many people’s fares. Busses would be a more sustainable and equitable solution.
Strong Towns: Forget Gas and Insurance. How Much Does Your Daily Commute Really Cost You? – Our time is one of our most valuable resources. The hidden cost of auto-centric design and congestion is our lost wages. Auto-centric urban planning has also cost us historic neighborhoods when highways were constructed and residents were displaced. The way these costs are calculated is a subject of contention among urban planners. Sometimes, doing the math isn’t enough to show the true cost of a transportation mode.
City Lab: With Trains Like Schwebebahn, No Wonder Germans Love Public Transit – Wuppertal, Germany is intersected by a unique train, the Schwebebahn. The elevated monorail offers straight down views of historic neighborhoods and the river that it follows. Schwebebahn united the two towns of Barmen and Elberfeld into the current city of Wuppertal. The top rail that makes Schwebebahn so unique was never widely adopted, leaving a fanciful feeling to this work horse of a rail line.
Image Source: City Lab
