Welcome to Monday.
Here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
Leveling the mobility playing field: People who struggle to make ends meet face a major barrier without access to quality transportation — and Trump’s welfare plan does nothing to change that.
Bike tech: Wired Magazine reminds us that more driving won’t save us and bicycles are all the transportation technology cities need.
3D printed bike: A Silicon Valley startup is showing off what they say is the world’s first carbon fiber bike printed by a computer. The firm has funding from a firm that is backed by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Another one: It’s downright disgusting that U.S. regulators allow a private company to let people drive “automated” cars in the public right-of-way. We’re going to see many more crashes like this one. We should be making cars that require more engagement from drivers, not less.
Scooter hater: A former NFL player penned an op-ed for the L.A. Times denouncing the scourge of dockless scooters in Venice.
Scooting right along: The author of that op-ed will not be happy to hear that Lime (a company with a strong interest in the Portland market) recently raised $500 million to build up its dockless scooter war chest.
Right turns on red is just wrong: Streetsblog explains how right-turns-on-red — a nemesis of safe streets advocates — was mandated by the federal government as a gas-saving measure in the 1970s. “It’s just another example where we prioritize mobility over safety.”
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Better ways, indeed: It’s very heartening to see ideas like human-scale streets, decongestion pricing, and the lessons of global cities like London and Copenhagen get prominently espoused in the NY Times op-ed pages.
Detroit’s adaptive bike share: The Motor City has a new program to make adaptive bikes like trikes and handcycles more easily available through their existing bike share program.
Sorry, millennials are addicted to driving too: New research appears to upend a common narrative from the past few years that millennials care less for driving and suburbs than other generations. “In a nutshell, we found little evidence of a substantial cultural turn by millennials away from cars and suburbs.”
The facts behind “distracted pedestrians”: We’ve all see the anti-walking propaganda about “petextrians” and the like, now someone has actually done research on the topic. And guess what? It appears people aren’t as distracted while walking as DOTs and mainstream media like to think.
Take heed, PBA: A Manhattan business association (backed by developers and local elected officials) is advocating for more carfree space and “shared streets” in the financial district.
It’s the culture, stupid: Glad to hear the radical (sarcasm) idea that people just need to chill the f*&# out while behind the wheel getting attention thanks to former Toronto city planner Jennifer Keesmaat.
Drive safely, help your neighborhood: Modacity flagged this amazing story from the Netherlands about an electronic speedometer that puts money into a fund for a local playground if people drive at or below the speed limit. Brilliant!
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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