Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Streetsblog Network

Last week, communities around the country celebrated Walk to School Day to encourage kids to get to school the old-fashioned and healthy way. In Seattle, the event was more than a one-off to raise public awareness — it was also the kickoff for a five-year action plan to increase walking and biking to school. While active transportation to […]

Republican lawmakers in Rhode Island are trying to pay for roads and bridges without new tolls on trucks. James Kennedy at Transport Providence is wondering what’s so conservative about giving a free pass to the interests that inflict the most damage on roads, since everyone else will have to pay instead: One way we can assess […]

Things are not looking up at the Washington Metro. Despite service expansions, strong regional population and economic growth, and a national increase in rail ridership, fewer and fewer people are riding Metro. Concerned about reliability and safety, riders are losing faith in Metro. Furthermore, Greater Greater Washington has pointed out that the agency’s finances are increasingly unsustainable. In light of these […]

Local residents described Main Street in O’Fallon, Missouri, as “ugly,” “outdated,” and “old” in a series of meetings earlier this year. Officials responded with a plan to redesign the road to make it safer and more inviting for pedestrians: a road diet. Scores of American cities have used this design treatment to calm traffic and make commercial districts more walkable, […]

As people who’ve tried to make their neighborhood streets safer for walking and biking can tell you, engineers are amazingly adept at shutting down dissent. Chuck Marohn at Strong Towns — an engineer himself — knows the drill inside out (it inspired this classic animation from 2010). In a new post, he explains: Transportation engineers can be intimidating. They are […]

Following an eye-opening three-day experience with a car-free center city — a byproduct of Pope Francis’s visit — many Philadelphia residents are beating the drum for more large open streets events to provide some relief from traffic. A recent Philadelphia Inquirer story explored the idea, and playing the role of curmudgeon was Joseph Martin, an engineering professor at Drexel University who […]