Check out this week's hottest transportation news. It includes exploding bicycle locks and ballot initiative victories.

Transit

  • New Metro Freeway Lanes May Not be On The Horizon Anytime Soon. The Met Council’s latest transportation plan draft asserts that many prominent projects that had been planned for completion between now and 2030 "need to be put on hold at this time to allow the region to reevaluate highway priorities." For now, the plan steers clear of adding lanes and instead focuses on preserving existing highways. TLC has stated that the draft plan is encouraging in its de-emphasis on highway expansion, but the strategies proposed in this draft plan are too timid, too general, and fall too far behind similar regions around the country, especially in view of the plan’s lack of a strong connection between land use and transportation.
  • Election Night Reveals Strong Support for New Transit Projects.  Voters in multiple states approved measures that will improve and expand transit systems across the nation. California’s bond issue for a high-speed rail line spanning most of the state passed with about 52 percent of the vote. New transit systems and expansions were approved in Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu, West Sacramento, Marin County, and Aspen. Voters in Milwaukee and Berkley approved new funding streams for operations. 
  • New County Commissioner Could Put Transit Sales Tax in Play. Lisa Weik's election to the Washington County Board of Commissioners ensures enough votes to repeal a quarter-cent sales tax for transit, but most board members said Wednesday they wanted to better understand the tax's potential return before deciding whether to kill it. Weik, who describes herself as "pro-transit" in favor of more commuter buses in Washington County, said Wednesday she doesn't plan to back off her intent to repeal the tax. [Editorial note: We look forward to learning if Commissioner Weik can provide commuter buses for Woodbury without actually funding them.]

Bicycling and Walking

  • Walking works at Lucy Craft Laney School. This Minneapolis school is one of many across the country participating in the Safe Routes to School initiative which aims to increase the number of students walking or bicycling to school nationwide.  In addition to the savings school districts would see if fewer students needed to be bused to school, the initiative helps students stay healthy by incorporating exercise into their daily routines.
  • Cycletracks for Hennepin Avenue?  As residents prepare for Hennepin Avenue to become a two-way street, bicyclists are wondering how they will be affected.  The Twin Cities Streets for People blog has been showing how cycletracks, or barrier-separated bicycle lanes, could work on Hennepin Avenue. Cycletracks are an important component of the bicycle infrastructure of all European cities with double-digit rates of bicycle use (Amsterdam: 35% of all trips, Copenhagen: 33%, etc.). If implemented, cycletracks could enable bicyclists to travel more safely and comfortably to their destinations. 
  • Cyclists Fight Back With Exploding Bike Lock. I bet James Bond would ride a bicycle if he had one of these locks.

Development

  • Can the Twin Cities take another 20 years of congestion?  At an October 22 public hearing, TLC, Fresh Energy, MN Center for Environmental Advocacy and the Sierra Club Northstar Chapter asserted the Met Council’s new 2030 Transportation Plan doesn’t provide concrete solutions for the city’s transportation needs.  Barb Thoman, program consultant for TLC says the conventional approach to congestion by adding more lanes on a highway is not working.  Although the Met Council’s plan acknowledges this fact, no specific alternative solution is offered.  Thoman suggests looking at Portland, OR for guidance, whose population increased 20 percent over the last 10 years thanks to its transit-friendly environment.  TLC is encouraging educational outreach with workshops and training sessions that will help inform and push the community to think about the Twin Cities’ future transportation system.
  • Designing the 21st century street. Transportation Alternatives announced the winners of its open design competition to revision the public street in New York City for the 21st century. The competition aimed to generate street designs that create a greater quality of life, economic development and liveliness for all users, not just those who drive.
  • Light rail brings up housing values in Denver.  According to an analysis by Your Castle Real Estate, homes less than a half-mile from a station increased an average of 17.6 percent, while those 1.5 to 2 miles away increased just 0.1 percent on average. The data varied widely among stations, however.  In other markets with rail lines, single-family home values have increased anywhere from 2 percent in San Diego to 32 percent in St. Louis, according to data gathered by the Denver Regional Transit District. 

Full Digest
Transit and Roads

Bicycling and Walking

Development