How much does your commute cost (or save) society?

.@adamlcarey @theage Any funding that build more roads is just a bad bad bad investment pic.twitter.com/5jRz9d1GVI

— Jon Bryant (@JonathanPBryant) May 19, 2015

Here's What Happened When A Neighborhood Decided To Ban Cars For A Month http://t.co/6uQsLaqsVu @ecomobility_ pic.twitter.com/EGWWSBNs4U

— Ethan Kent (@ebkent) May 19, 2015

From @discourse_media — The full cost of your commute

The full cost of your commute: http://t.co/NHxO5Ty96c pic.twitter.com/s5eHG4gzJ0

— Fabienne (@fabienneChan) April 3, 2015

From @Upworthy — Cities being described as "obesogenic" environments.

I never realized how dumb our cities are until I saw what a smart one looks like. @MazWasHere HT @kimsmythe http://t.co/2ppUrFvKta
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) March 20, 2015

Why Cities Around The World Are Suddenly Ditching Traffic Lights

Why Cities Around The World Are Suddenly Ditching Traffic Lights @FastCoExist Via @PPS_Placemaking http://t.co/8f39zRaJfI

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) March 19, 2015

For Warhol, J.G. Ballard, and others the destroyed car is one of the most potent symbols in modern art

Post by The Sidewalk Ballet.

Free eBook — @CityLab Books: The Future of Transportation

Post by The Sidewalk Ballet.

From Institute for Transportation and Development Policy — Infographic: Sizing Up Parking Space

Sizing Up Parking Space - Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Twitter: @ITDP_HQ

Cities are designed to accommodate cars How do we redesign them to benefit people?

Better urban design could add years to your life#CBCCities Tweets

From The Vancouver Sun — Vancouver swaps parking requirement for car shares

At the proposed new mixed-use Oakridge Centre there will be up to 75 car share vehicles, purchased by the developer for the Modo car share cooperative, for use by the public. In exchange for this, for every car-share vehicle, the City of Vancouver will allow the developer to build up to five fewer underground parking spaces. Welcome to the new world of collaborative partnerships between developers, the city, and car share companies, unique in Canada and spreading to other municipalities in the region. Read more: Vancouver swaps parking requirement for car shares

From PBS NewsHour — 'A long way from zero' NYC takes on traffic fatalities

Although New York City streets over the past few years have been the safest in decades, traffic accidents and pedestrian fatalities have recently started to tick back up. Now, city officials are looking to "Vision Zero," an initiative based on a model from Sweden. The plan hinges on expanded enforcement, new street designs and legislation to increase penalties for dangerous drivers. NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan reports. Read more: A long way from zero': NYC takes on traffic fatalities | PBS NewsHour

From US Public Interest Research Group — Millennials in Motion

Over the last decade – after 60-plus years of steady increases – the number of miles driven by the average American has been falling. Young Americans have experienced the greatest changes: driving less; taking transit, biking and walking more; and seeking out places to live in cities and walkable communities where driving is an option, not a necessity.

Academic research, survey results and government data point to a multitude of factors at play in the recent decline in driving among young people: socioeconomic shifts, changes in consumer preferences, technological changes, efforts by state governments and colleges to limit youth driving, and more.

Read more: Millennials in Motion | U.S. PIRG. HT Todd Litman 

From StreetsBlog NYC — Woodhaven BRT Could Set New Standard for NYC Busways

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NYC DOT and the MTA have developed three design concepts for Select Bus Service on Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard in southeast Queens, and two of them go further than previous SBS routes to keep cars from slowing down buses [PDF]. All of the options include some measures to shorten crossing distances for pedestrians on one of the city’s widest and most dangerous streets. Read more: First Look: Woodhaven BRT Could Set New Standard for NYC Busways

From Chicago magazine — The Future of Transportation in Chicago

Airplanes on the lake, a bike superskyway, trains galore—and more bold ideas to reimagine how you get around the city. More at: The Future of Transportation in Chicago | Chicago magazine | August 2014

Americans Don't Walk Much And I Don't Blame Them — @Kaid_in_DC in @HuffPostGreen

This won’t be breaking news to most readers, but Americans don’t walk very much. Periodically, National Geographic publishes a 17-nation “Greendex” study on, among many other things, transit use and walking. In 2012 Americans came in dead last on both indices, and it wasn’t close.  

Read more: Americans Don't Walk Much, and I Don't Blame Them | F. Kaid Benfield

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New Masters of Community Planning Program at @VIUniversity approved by the province!

New Masters of Community Planning Program at @VIUniversity approved by the province! The first cohort is planned for September 2015. Pls RT

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) September 26, 2014

From The Daily Beast — ‘The Power Broker’ Turns 40: How Robert Caro Wrote a Masterpiece

September 16, 2014. Forty years ago today, Caro’s magisterial 1,296-page life of New York master builder Robert Moses rewrote the rules of biography.

In the spring of 1974, after Robert A. Caro had finished writing The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York—a seven-year ordeal that took the book through three publishers and two editors and nearly bankrupted Caro—the first-time author got a surprise phone call from his agent, Lynn Nesbit.

“I submitted the book to The New Yorker,” she told him, “and Mr. Shawn [William Shawn, who was then the editor of The New Yorker] told me he's never read anything like it, and he's going to publish more of it than he's ever published of any book.” Read more: ‘The Power Broker’ Turns 40: How Robert Caro Wrote a Masterpiece - The Daily Beast

From CityLab — The Devastating Impact of 30 Years of Sprawl, As Seen From Space

How much have cities in Texas expanded in just the past few decades? A "truckload" I believe is the appropriate regional answer, and now we can actually see those urban centers spread like slime mold with a series of amazing satellite-based animations. More at: The Devastating Impact of 30 Years of Sprawl, As Seen From Space - CityLab

1914 - World's First Traffic Light Cleveland OH @WhatWasThere

Post by The Sidewalk Ballet.

Scandinavian Tourists 'Horrified' By Canada's Car Culture @HuffPostCaLiv

Post by The Huffington Post Canada.

Traffic planning is more social science than science — @BrentToderian

When I sometimes ask engineers to explain why great places that don't meet their safety standards actually prove to be safer...1/2 #CNU22

— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) June 7, 2014

2/2... the engineers often respond "that's just because people behave differently there." Exactly. #CNU22

— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) June 7, 2014

Traffic planning is more social science than science, & to understand mobility in cities better, engineers will need to be more "social."

— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) June 8, 2014