Cities

Non-starter: Republican transportation bill is dead on arrival

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, seemingly intent on driving the country into a ditch, have thrown together a “uniquely terrible” transportation bill. A growing chorus of critics says the legislation is far from roadworthy.

Greg Hanscom Politics

Glamour trip: Real snobs don’t ride the subway

When conjuring the image of liberal high society, Newt Gingrich often points to the subway. His compadres in Congress want to obliterate designated funding for mass transit. Here’s the real reason they hate trains.

Ben Adler Transportation

Build a side-by-side bicycle for Valentine’s Day

Nothing says “I love you” like a bicycle that forces you and your partner to cooperate to the point of absurdity, so Instructables user Carlitos has posted specs for a bike modification that places two riders side by side. If you have access to a welder and a good source of junker bike parts, you […]

Jess Zimmerman Transportation

House transit bill so bad even Republicans don’t like it

The transportation bill currently making its way through the House of Representatives sure does suck. It strips funds from safe streets projects and public transit, and dumps that money on highways instead. Which is all more or less what we’ve come to expect of GOP-sponsored bills — except this one’s so bad it’s even alienating […]

Jess Zimmerman Transportation

Urban outfitters: The Nature Conservancy goes to the city

The world's biggest conservation group is making forays into urban areas. Some say it should shift its focus entirely. But can these nature muffins survive in the urban jungle?

Greg Hanscom Cities

Sky’s the limit: How two average Joes created NYC’s High Line

When Robert Hammond heard about plans to demolish the High Line, an abandoned aerial train line through his New York City neighborhood, he decided to look into it. In a new book, he and his partner in crime tell of discovering “a mile and a half of wildflowers running right through the city,” and their fight to preserve it.

Jared Green Cities

In France, cyclists can run red lights legally

Sometimes France is so fricking enlightened it hurts. Lawmakers recently decided to allow “cyclists in some cities to disregard red lights at certain intersections,” Treehugger writes. Paris will be testing the idea at 15 intersections, and Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Nantes have been running the same experiment for a while. If the pilot goes well, 1,700 […]

Sarah Laskow Transportation

The Prius C: Not a swan, but a damn fine duck

Meet the newest addition to the Prius family, and find out how well it performs.

Osha Gray Davidson Technology

Why do we suck at building subways?

At Salon, Will Doig asks why American public transit projects have decades-long time lines, while in China, new transit projects open in a heartbeat. And as Matt Yglesias points out, American transit projects are also more expensive than comparable build-outs in other big, rich cities, like London. So what’s our problem?