Angie Schmitt
Recent Posts
Highway Planners Pause to Consider the Effect of Road Widening on Detroit Neighborhoods
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Michigan DOT has agreed to make a highway expansion project less awful.
We Have the Tech to Stop Distracted Driving. But Do We Have the Will?
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What is stopping us from implementing solutions to prevent distracted driving? We have the technology. The problem is, the smartphone industry doesn't want to use it.
How to Spot a Highway Boondoogle
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With the Trump Administration purportedly gearing up to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure, it's time for a refresher on the perils of highway boondoggles.
Study: Drivers With Smart Phones Use Them Almost Every Time They Drive
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Motorists with smart phones use their devices in 88 out of every 100 trips, according to data collected by Zendrive, a company that assesses driving behavior using the sensors in smart phones. Extrapolating to the entire population, Zendrive estimates there are about 600 million trips involving distracted driving in the U.S. each day.
Get Ready for More PSAs Blaming Traffic Violence Victims for “Drunk Walking”
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This week, the Governors Highway Safety Administration issued a press release telling state DOTs that instead of telling people not to drink and drive, they should tell everyone, including pedestrians and cyclists, not to drink and go anywhere.
Mexico City May Abolish Its Parking Minimums
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Mexico City Mayor Miguel Mancera is pursuing a sweeping overhaul of the city's parking policy that's expected to do away with minimum parking requirements and generate revenue for transit and affordable housing. If enacted, the reforms could set an important precedent for cities in North and South America.
Is Your Local Government Falling for the Hyperloop Fantasy?
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There are no functional, real-world examples of a Hyperloop, Tesla founder Elon Musk's long-distance transport concept that involves shooting people through vacuum-sealed tubes in pods that travel at up to 760 mph. And yet a surprising number of government agencies are treating the Hyperloop as a serious proposition.
Enough With the Gondolamania Already
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In American cities, gondolas have mainly served as a distraction from bigger problems facing urban transit systems.
The GOP Case for Cutting Federal Transit Funding Isn’t Principled — It’s Tribalism
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The insistence that transit is a local priority while highways are a national concern has become an article of faith in the world of right-wing think tanks. But highway spending mostly serves the same type of trips that Republicans purportedly believe are inappropriate for federal funding.
Parking Madness: Hartford vs. Cleveland
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Streetsblog is on the hunt for the North American transit station that's most severely undermined by excess surface parking, and today you'll meet the last two contestants in the running.
How a Toledo Mom Stopped a Destructive Road Widening
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Dana Dunbar was new to transportation policy and activism. But that didn't stop her from waging a successful grassroots campaign against a road widening in her neighborhood.
Highway Projects Won’t Save the Rust Belt
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Highway mega-projects remain tempting to struggling cities and regions in the Rust Belt. But evidence shows they shift economic activity away from existing business districts and don't generate lasting improvements.