Grids Are Good

These observations from a morning detour demonstrate why small neighborhood side streets are better than big, wide highways, even when it comes to moving traffic.

Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StorySeth ZerenMay 12, 2022traffic congestion, streets, highways, grid, traffic engineering, congestion, Street Design

How to Calm a Street, Starting with Your Own Anger

Frustrated by cars speeding down your neighborhood street at 40 mph? Don’t blame the people driving the cars.

The Way We Design Our Streets Invites Driver Aggression

This motorcyclist was acting aggressive…but what in his environment signaled to him that aggressive driving was acceptable?

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnApril 18, 2022#SlowTheCars, transportation, Safety, car crash, cars, STROADS, roads, Brainerd MN, design

A Strong Town Designs Its Places for All, Not Just Cars

When we design our streets to make them safer for people with disabilities, it also makes them safer for people, as a whole.

#SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StorySteve WrightApril 15, 2022disability, Disability, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, pedestrians, pedestrian crossing, #PedestrianUnfriendly, walkability, Safety, safety, Florida, #SlowTheCars

Reckless Road Design is Killing Us, Not Reckless Drivers

An epidemic of roadway deaths aren’t caused by random rule breakers. The cause is the rule followers. It’s time to change the rules mandating speed and volume over safety and cost.

NTSB Chair After Car Crash: “There’s a Problem With That Road Design”

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, recently survived a car crash. And she’s not blaming it on reckless driving.

#SlowtheCars, Quednau, Roads and Streets, Top StoryRachel QuednauApril 6, 2022Safety, car crash, cars, traffic engineering, streets, Street Design, #SlowTheCars

Sowing Our Roads with Salt Is No Way to Grow Stronger Towns

Because we depend so heavily on cars, what happens when roads become too icy to drive on? The answer: road salt. But there are serious consequences to relying on salt for road-clearing.

Two Highways and Two Eras in New Jersey

These two highways in New Jersey run parallel and very close to each other—and traveling along them allows a sustained view of two different development approaches.

Roads and Streets, Urban Design, Top StoryAddison Del MastroFebruary 17, 2022roads, New Jersey, Addison Del Mastro, Development, development, development pattern, suburbanization, traditional development pattern, urban design, urban planning

How Traffic Engineers Can Finally Tame Stroads

This engineer offers a strategy for slowing down cars that could be a bridge between what communities want and what engineers want.

#SlowtheCars, Engineering Profession, Roads and Streets, Strategies, Transportation, Top StoryMike BrownFebruary 15, 2022traffic engineering, engineers, engineering profession, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, STROADS, streets, Street Design, Brainerd MN, #SlowTheCars

Texas DOT Doubles Down on Urban Highway Expansions

San Antonio residents were working on a downtown road diet and neighborhood redevelopment…until TxDOT decided to completely ignore the will of 78% of local voters.

#NoNewRoads, #SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Stange, Transportation, Top StoryJay StangeFebruary 8, 2022DOT, Texas, Houston, #NoNewRoads, #SlowTheCars, road diet, Road Diet, roads, streets, STROADS

Why Do We Have to Handle 30,000 Trips per Day?

When engineers say a street must accommodate a high volume of traffic, what they really mean is, "The design of this street must prioritize the convenience of commuters over all else."

Let Main Streets Be Main Streets

A community should determine what kind of community it wants to be, not unelected DOT engineers.

Bake Sales for Crosswalks

Idahoan advocates had to get desperate to fund basic pedestrian safety features—all while the state DOT is budgeting $100 million to overhaul a single freeway interchange.

Alaska and New Infrastructure Funds: We Promise Not to Waste It!

As of November 15, Alaska is flush with federal infrastructure money. How should it be spent?

Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why.

Americans drove less during the early months of pandemic, yet traffic fatalities increased—and have yet to go back down. And the “official” explanations for it are completely wrong.

#SlowtheCars, Coronavirus, Engineering Profession, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 10, 2022traffic congestion, traffic engineering, engineers, Safety, transportation, car crash, coronavirus, Coronavirus, #SlowTheCars

Two Different Languages

Dozens of people have been killed by vehicles on State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts over the last seven years. The public is clamoring for change, but city staff aren’t getting the message. Here’s what’s being lost in translation.

#SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Confessions Book, Top Story, ST PodcastCharles MarohnDecember 14, 2021Pedestrian Safety, Springfield, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer

How Do You Actually Fix a Stroad?

We respond to a question posted for us on Reddit about a stroad that seems unfixable—and maybe that’s because it is.

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnDecember 3, 2021STROADS, strong towns approach, Not Just Bikes, roads, strip malls, transportation

A Community Forced to Play the Infrastructure Squid Game

Residents of this Houston neighborhood thought they were winning the lottery with a government-sponsored infrastructure project. Instead, they endured a seven-month-long nightmare.