Another potential land development proposal in Santa Clara gives me a great example of the disjointed disconnected non-integrated planning process I discussed the other day. That is, as a long-time resident of Silicon Valley (over 25 years) I see that much of the sprawlitis-causing-traffic-congestion that’s now plaguing our area is sourced…
It may not look like it, but the ‘modern’ transportation system, especially as it exists in the U.S.A., is broken, horribly. As I see it, the car companies and others are working hard on the appearance that modern transportation systems are okay. That’s just the sugar coating designed to make…
It’s been a long time since Americans have thought of Farmers Markets as a normal way to buy food. On my recent trip to Eastern Europe I had the chance to experience Farmers Markets in a different way, with huge market operations that are open every day as opposed to…
The greenest way of getting around may be walking, or riding a bicycle. Taking mass transit is generally very green because a bus or train can carry more people per square mile than can individually driven cars, the vehicles are reused by multiple passengers, better fuel efficiency per passenger mile,…
Over the next few posts I will be writing what will appear to be a format change, but one which fits the larger vision I have for this blog. Normally I focus on electric vehicles and the project of spreading their adoption. For me the purpose of electrification is part…
An hour ago this normal everywhere intersection was full of police, fire and emergency vehicles. A few minutes before I had been in my house quietly writing a news article about a 500 mile electric car being developed in Denmark, when there was a thud outside followed by screams. When…
There are a pair of competing needs in America. One is for JOBS – the other is to transform the transportation system. Many are offering rehabilitation of the transportation system as the key to providing JOBS. The rush to create JOBS via infrastructure development could make us miss out on…
A group of children are playing with a ball. They lose control of the ball, and it rolls across the street. It’s an innocent daily occurrence sometimes resulting in a dead child, a driver facing criminal charges, outrage over a needless death, anguished parents, and so on. Who’s really at…
A recent report published by CEOs for Cities finds, using Walk Score data and techniques, that walkable cities have higher land values than unwalkable cities. The study claims it illustrates “the value that homeowners attach to locations that enable them to easily access a variety of urban destinations by walking…
Perhaps the greenest form of transportation is walking. We’re all born with the ability to walk (well, save for the few with birth defects) and it is a very low impact way to transport ourselves from place to place. Walking is good exercise, it promotes blood circulation, and can increase…
