In the tenth and final video in Streetfilms' Moving Beyond the Automobile series, we are talking about parking reform. From doing away with mandatory parking minimums, to charging the right price for curbside parking, to converting on-street parking spots into parklets and bike corrals, cities are latching onto exciting new ideas to make more room for people in our cities and repurpose the valuable public space that lines our streets.
Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking, "the right price is the lowest price you can charge and still have one or two spaces available on each block." Depending on the demand for parking at a given location, the right price could be higher or lower than the static prices you see at traditional meters. You need a dynamic system that adjusts the price based on demand.
What’s a road diet? Quite simply, traffic-calming expert Dan Burden told Streetfilms, “A road diet is anytime you take any lane out of a road.” The first time people hear about a road diet, their initial reaction likely goes something like this: “How can removing lanes improve my neighborhood and not cause traffic backups?” It [...]
Several cities are pursuing highway removals, as a way to reclaim city space for housing, parks, and economic development. CNU has designated ten "Freeways without Futures" here in North America, and in this video, you'll hear about the benefits of tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx, the Skyway and Route 5 in Buffalo, and the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans.
Here's a real favorite of mine, a video that Streetfilms was fortunate enough to work on late last year. Connecting the City is a project from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition all about encouraging a vision of the Bay Area that is more bike-friendly to families, seniors and everyday folks who endeavor to ride more than they [...]
For the second chapter in our Moving Beyond the Automobile series we'll take a look at bicycling. More and more people are choosing to cycle for at least part of their commute in cities across the world. Leading the way in the United States, Portland, Oregon is up to a daily bike count of 17,000 [...]
Over the last ten years (or more) just about every major city in the U.S. has added bike-carrying capacity to their buses. While cities like Chicago, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Seattle, Philadelphia, and San Francisco can boast 100% of their bus fleet sporting bike racks, NYC comes in at 0% - the only one in The Alliance for Biking & Walking's 2010 Benchmarking report.
"Cities for Cycling" is a project of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) to document, promote and implement the world’s best bicycle transportation practices in U.S. cities. In this Streetfilm you'll see how a typical visit can inspire, enlighten and energize city leaders & advocates. During bike month, experts from the transportation departments of [...]
You can trace the term "cycle chic" back to 2006, when Mikael Colville-Andersen launched his Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog. It means different things to different people, but basically, "cycle chic" is about riding in everyday clothes instead of specialized gear like spandex or cycling shoes. ]When I was in Copenhagen last December I had the chance to [...]
Antonio Mendoza has been living in Oakland and sending money home to Mexico for 13 years, but these are especially hard times.
In San Francisco, they are taking the PARK(ing) Day concept to a more permanent, logical level: the Pavement to Parks "Parklets" Program is conducting a trial to allow businesses to convert parking spaces into outdoor public spaces and cafes. The first was installed in March outside the Mojo Bicycle Café on Divisdero Street where two parking spaces were reallocated to people-space; now cafe tables & chairs, benches, bike parking, and plants sit over a raised platform over the asphalt.
San Francisco set a new record for Bike to Work Day this year. Bicyclists accounted for 75 percent of the morning roadway traffic on Market Street, a big increase over last year. Throw in sunny skies, some new shiny green bike lanes, just-installed bike corrals, door zone warnings, and other infrastructure, and you realize there [...]
Sal Bednarz believes in creating community, so when he opened a new café in his beloved neighborhood in Oakland, he gave it bike-friendly features.
Terri Saul paints impossible childhood fantasies on canvas. Inspired by her Choctaw-Chickasaw roots as well as memories of childhood bike rides through the outer edges of Los Angeles, many of Terri’s paintings combine classic Tour de France imagery with the regalia of Native American dancers. And now, her daughter Lydia, too, is taking to the magic and independence of the bicycle.
A common complaint among Muni riders is that the bus simply stops too often. It turns out they may be on to something: according to transit experts and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates Muni, consolidating some bus stops is one of the cheapest and quickest ways to speed up Muni. That's the [...]
"The Wiggle" is one of San Francisco's most beloved and cherished bike routes and guides riders the easiest way between two nasty hills. It even has its own Wiki page. It's so popular, it is hard to stand there at any point of the day and not see mega helpings of cyclists passing thru! (Please [...]
Back in September 2009, when Streetsblog San Francisco editor Bryan Goebel interviewed newly arrived SFPD Chief George Gascón, he invited him out for a bike ride. Gascón accepted. Sixth months later, we're pleased to report that the chief made good on his promise. With Andy Thornley of the San Francisco Bike Coalition serving as a trusty guide, [...]
By instituting a prepaid boarding system called proof-of-payment, San Francisco's Muni could dramatically quicken the boarding process, speed service and improve reliability.
Every day at Streetsblog San Francisco, our writers and editors marvel at the intelligence and passion of our readership, though we rarely get to meet this community of dedicated urbanists in person. Recently we threw ourselves a birthday party at the LGBT Center in San Francisco to celebrate all that has come in one year [...]
For decades, planners and transportation specialists have debated how San Francisco's most important street could be re-visioned to make it work better for transit, pedestrians, cyclists, shoppers, and those living on or near it. Now, as the Better Market Street Project moves forward with trial traffic diversions, the Art in Storefronts project, music and programming [...]
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