Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Traffic

How Better Traffic Models Can Lead to More Mixed-Use Development

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 4, 2013 | No Comments

Here’s another obscure but significant obstacle to building walkable places in America: the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ shoddy traffic generation models for mixed-use development. The model used by traffic engineers around the country to measure “trip generation” at new developments consistently overestimates the amount of motor vehicle traffic produced by mixed-use projects, according to the […]

Seven Ways Technology Is Rendering the Automobile Obsolete

By Tanya Snyder | May 15, 2013 | No Comments

As we try to understand why young people are so much less jazzed about driving than previous generations, one possible explanation always comes up: Kids today just love their smart phones. That is part of it. But the full picture is far more nuanced. The internet, and the ability to carry it wherever you go, […]

Millennials Will Drive More as They Age, But Still Less Than Their Parents

By Tanya Snyder | May 15, 2013 | No Comments

At some point over the past few years, a lot of my friends started moving to Silver Spring and Takoma Park and Falls Church. These inner-ring, transit-connected suburbs of DC are still far less compact and walkable than the neighborhoods my friends moved from. So they bought cars. Why did they do this? They’re entering […]

U.S. PIRG: The Driving Boom Is Over But the Road-Building Binge Continues

By Tanya Snyder | May 14, 2013 | No Comments

The driving boom is over. After decades of steady growth, U.S. driving rates have stagnated and even fallen. Per capita driving is as low as it was in 1996. And yet, federal and state government estimates continue to predict inexorable growth, relentlessly building expensive new highways for drivers who might not materialize. A groundbreaking new […]

How Green Is Grocery Delivery in Cities?

By Tanya Snyder | May 10, 2013 | No Comments

In a recent study out of Seattle, researchers Erica Wygonik and Anne Goodchild found that having groceries delivered by truck can cut mileage by up to 85 or 95 percent compared to driving a car. “It’s like a bus for groceries,” Goodchild told NPR. “Overwhelmingly, it’s more efficient to be sharing a vehicle, even if it’s a little larger.” […]

Counting Bikes and Cars Without a Clipboard

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 12, 2013 | No Comments

Liberate yourself from government transportation data that doesn’t tell you what you need to know! Break the chains of ignorance about how streets in your town are being used! Declare your independence from five-year-old data sets in PDF spreadsheets! Advocates have for too long been at the mercy of the limited data on travel patterns they […]

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