Our broken transportation system wasn’t pre-ordained; it was built out of the choices we’ve made. And we need to start making better ones if we want to fix it.

#SlowtheCars, Member Post, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodOctober 4, 2021Safety, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, STROADS, Street Design, streets, canada, Canada, Winnipeg, transportation, #SlowTheCars

Engineers Should Not Design Streets: A Programmer's Take

Software engineers don’t design user interface, so why do we let civil engineers design streets?

Freeway-Widening Grifters: Woke-Washing, Fraud, and Incompetence

ODOT has resorted to some truly cheap and deceptive marketing tactics to promote their new freeway-widening project.

Are Traffic Engineers Sociopaths?

Why is it that traffic engineers seem to value the flow of cars over human lives and safety? Are they just sociopaths?

Is it 2021 or 1961 at America's DOTs?

Here’s a roundup of five highway boondoggles that are threatening neighborhoods right now in the U.S. Think of it as a hall of shame.

The Environment Question

Where does the Strong Towns approach intersect with environmentalism?

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 16, 2021environment, strong towns approach, Electric Vehicles, walkability, streets

"Improvements"

So many engineering projects are formally called "improvements." The subtle bias of this language provides a glimpse at the values embedded within the profession.

Let's Talk Great Streets

Abby and Chuck deviate from the norm a little on this week’s Upzoned by talking not about an article from the internet, but about one chapter of a particular book (hint: it’s Confessions).

Confessions Book, Planning Profession, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 8, 2021Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, Upzoned, Street Design, streets

Not Just Bikes: The Wrong Way to Set Speed Limits (New Video)

Not Just Bikes has put together another brilliant video, this time explaining why we cannot manage the speeds on our roads separately from the design of our roads.

#SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Video, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 7, 2021Not Just Bikes, Street Design, speed, Speeding, Netherlands, traffic engineering

We Need a New Conventional Wisdom About Streets

We're at a tipping point in how we design and think about our public streets. And things can tip the right way, once we confront the bankrupt ideology guiding our transportation system.

#SlowtheCars, Engineering Profession, Herriges, Confessions Book, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesSeptember 7, 2021Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, STROADS, planning profession, engineers, engineering profession, traffic engineering, #SlowTheCars

The Hidden Values Behind Our Unsafe Streets

Chuck Marohn reads an excerpt from the first chapter of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer.

Iterating to Safety (Excerpt from Confessions of a Recovering Engineer)

We need to #SlowTheCars on every street that's been the site of an auto-related fatality. The best way to do so? Through an iterative approach.

#SlowtheCars, Confessions Book, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 30, 2021iteration, streets, Pedestrian Safety, Safety, Street Design, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions book, #SlowTheCars, confessions excerpt

"Does Induced Demand Apply to Bike Lanes?" and Other Questions

And what this tells us about what the common buzzword really means.

#NoNewRoads, Herriges, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesAugust 25, 2021induced demand, traffic congestion, roads, highways, transit, transportation, bike lanes, traffic engineering

The Projections Fallacy

We spend billions every year on our transportation network, large percentages of it based on traffic projections—despite the fact that we don’t accurately project traffic.

Engineering Profession, Mistakes A Town Makes, Roads and Streets, Marohn, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 16, 2021traffic projections, traffic congestion, engineers, engineering profession, transportation, traffic engineering

Automated Vehicles Will Make Our Streets Worse

Automated vehicle technology will do nothing to make our streets better places to be.

Marohn, Transportation, Roads and Streets, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 12, 2021autonomous vehicles, auto-oriented, cars, technology

The Key to Slowing Traffic is Street Design, Not Speed Limits

Two simple photos show the difference between a street simply designated as 20 mph, and one actually designed to be safe. We can't regulate our way to safety.

#SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Greatest Hits, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 5, 2021speed, traffic engineering, engineers, transportation

Fighting an Urban Highway Expansion in Shreveport

Hear how local leaders in Louisiana are fighting the I-49 Connector, an urban highway expansion project that is threatening the vibrant, predominantly black neighborhood of Allendale.

#NoNewRoads, Podcast, Roads and Streets, Shreveport, Top Story, ST PodcastStrong TownsJuly 26, 2021#NoNewRoads, highways, Shreveport, Louisiana, Podcast, neighborhood

Crossing the Street is Like Dodging Bullets

The continued street/road hybrid approach of America's countless stroads causes needless tragedy, with the side effect of our cities going bankrupt in the process. #SlowTheCars

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Top StoryCharles MarohnJuly 22, 2021negligence, Buffalo NY, STROADS

Kansas City Residents Demand Safer Streets

The 85th percentile rule makes it hard to ensure safe streets, so residents of northeast Kansas City took matters into their own hands.

If "We Are All Detroit," then Woodward Avenue Is Everyroad

Woodward Avenue in Michigan is as good a spot as any to think of as the birthplace of the auto-oriented development pattern. But if we can see our past there, we can also glimpse our future.

Roads and Streets, Top StoryJohn PattisonJuly 13, 2021Detroit, Michigan, STROADS

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