Kids go to school to get an education and increase their future job opportunities. But how they get to school is a crucial, underappreciated detail that can make a world of difference to the communities where schools are located. Earlier this month, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced...
| Read more >At the Meeting of the Minds Mobility Summit last week, speakers emphasized the need for equitable access to transportation and how microtransit can be a good avenue for autonomous vehicle usage. The growth of autonomous vehicle (AV) usage around the country can benefit cities and their public...
| Read more >With so many Baltimore riders relying on the bus to get to work or school, Samuel Jordan, president of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, doesn’t see any reason the city shouldn’t have the best system in the country. The fact that so many riders don’t have any other option is what has...
| Read more >Little benches are popping up around the city, carrying what organizers hope will be a loud message. Handwritten in permanent marker across each of the handmade, unpainted benches' seats, the message reads, "This bench supports bus riders more than the city does." Cam Hardy heads the Better Bus...
| Read more >Uncertainty around federal funding to extend the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line to the city’s southern limits has sparked discussions on whether to build the $2.3 billion extension at all or find alternatives to improve transit for Far South Side residents. South Side resident Michael...
| Read more >Dockless bike systems, launched in the U.S. in 2017, have spread to dozens of cities. In addition to providing a transportation service with no government subsidy, they are addressing some of the limitations of traditional docked bikeshare systems and are attracting a more diverse group of...
| Read more >New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council speaker Corey Johnson have reached a deal, as of yet unannounced, to provide reduced-fare transit cards to low-income residents, the New York Times reported Thursday. Under the terms of the agreement, those living below the federal poverty...
| Read more >The City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio reached an agreement in principle early Thursday morning to fund the Fair Fares plan, according to two sources. Under the tentative agreement, $106 million from the city’s budget would pay for half-priced MetroCards for the rest of the year to nearly...
| Read more >During his keynote speech at the Transport Chicago conference, Equiticity founder and president Oboi Reed called for increased ownership of the transportation planning process in areas populated by “black, brown, and indigenous people of color.” He argued that one reason why...
| Read more >The new dockless bike-share companies that have taken off in the District are attracting a different kind of customer than the traditional Capital Bikeshare system: Their riders are more racially diverse, slightly younger and less affluent, according to transportation officials and an academic...
| Read more >The Regional Transportation Commission Board recently approved making bus passes more affordable for everyone and extending reduced-fare eligibility to benefit Veterans and seniors. The RTC is also simplifying transit-fare options to make buying a bus pass easier and to encourage more people to...
| Read more >Detroit transit is famous for all the wrong reasons. To get to the sprawled-out suburbs where the jobs are, people without access to a car have to make multiple transfers on routes operated by different agencies, often with long, long walks in between. Despite recent campaigns to create a...
| Read more >Cleveland must consider ways to use new mobility technology to bring people to jobs and jobs to people. That was the thinking expressed at Cleveland Conversations: Mobility, Data and Equity. This conversation, organized by Meeting of the Minds and DigitalC, gathered about 70 leaders from the...
| Read more >On May 24th the BART board will likely vote on whether to build a five-mile, $1.6 billion rail extension or a much more cost-effective bus alternative. AB 758 requires that BART take action on an alternative before the end of June, or they will lose control of the project’s future. BART should...
| Read more >Commuters who miss the bus during rush hour on Rice Street in St. Paul used to wait half an hour for the next one. Now the Route 62 rolls up every 15 minutes. Every two years, dozens of transportation projects compete for a slice of the region’s federal money. Route 62 had something special...
| Read more >Over the next two decades, Sound Transit — the transit agency serving the greater Seattle area — will buy a lot of land as it builds out its second and third phases of light rail expansion. Much of that land will be used as staging areas for new station construction. As that construction wraps...
| Read more >We have heard repeatedly from our constituents who live in the Sound Transit district that they care about three things: having more mass transit options that get them out of their cars; minimizing taxes; and completing the light rail spine (including Everett) as quickly as possible. The passage...
| Read more >Keeping track of whose territory you are in is key to survival for many young men growing up in South Central. The area’s oldest gangs are rooted in a self-help spirit – pushing back against violent white incursions into their neighborhoods while instilling pride and a sense of ownership in...
| Read more >The District has abandoned a plan that would have imposed hefty operating fees and regulations on the operators of dockless bike and scooter systems. Instead, the city is extending – without changes – its pilot program for another four months, through August. The proposed relations sought to...
| Read more >A Baltimore City Council committee heard hours of mostly supportive testimony for a bill that would require the city to ultimately prioritize pedestrian, cycling, and public transit over cars, aligning with Complete Streets guidelines. Supporters, ranging from cyclists to merchants to transit...
| Read more >Recent weeks have been genuinely dizzying in terms of transportation policymaking about the future of how we get around Seattle. Mayor Jenny Durkan halted ongoing construction of the Center City Connector which would stitch two separate streetcar lines together with dedicated lanes. Her...
| Read more >If done right, shared modes of transportation can help underserved Angelenos and the environment. Los Angeles is primed to reinvent transportation—and this time there’s an opportunity to make things better for the local community and environment.
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