Elizabeth Press
Recent Posts
Moving Beyond the Automobile: The Right Price for Parking
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You might be shocked at how much traffic consists of drivers who have already arrived at their destination but find themselves cruising the streets, searching for an open parking spot. In some city neighborhoods, cruising makes up as much as 40 percent of all traffic. All this unnecessary traffic slows down buses, endangers cyclists and […]
Guangzhou, China: Winning the Future With Bus Rapid Transit
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Guangzhou is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The economic hub of China’s southern coast, it has undergone three decades of rapid modernization, and until recently the city’s streets were on a trajectory to get completely overrun by traffic congestion and pollution. But Guangzhou has started to change course. Last year the […]
MBA: Highway Removal
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In this week’s episode of “Moving Beyond the Automobile,” Streetfilms takes you on a guided tour of past, present and future highway removal projects with John Norquist of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). Some of the most well-known highway removals in America — like New York City’s Miller Highway and San Francisco’s Embarcadero […]
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Bus Rapid Transit
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Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) provides faster and more efficient service than an ordinary bus. “These systems operate like a surface subway, say BRT advocates, but cost far less than building an actual metro.” Watch this chapter of Moving Beyond the Automobile to learn about the key features of bus rapid transit systems around the world […]
Chicago’s Bus Tracker: Taking the Guesswork Out of Waiting for the Bus
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One of the encouraging trends for American transit riders, in an otherwise bleak landscape of service cuts and fare hikes, is the growing number of agencies experimenting with ways to bring better information to their customers. Last summer Streetfilms explored how open transit data is helping to make riding the bus or the train more […]
Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s “Livable Streets”
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You may have wondered, while watching a Streetfilm or reading a post on Streetsblog, where we got the term “livable streets.” The answer can be found in the work of Donald Appleyard, a scholar who studied the neighborhood environment and the ways planning and design can make life better for city residents. In 1981, Appleyard […]
Traffic Calming Postcards from London
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What would our streets look like if we really did balance everyone’s needs and made them safe and functional for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists? In this Streetfilm, you’ll see some of the new street designs in London shopping districts and residential neighborhoods. In many cases, these traffic calming treatments — including raised crosswalks, traffic diverters, […]
No Need for Speed: 20’s Plenty for Us
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Earlier this month, the New York City Department of Transportation announced plans to experiment with 20 mph zones — replacing the city’s default 30 mph speed limit in one pilot neighborhood. Whoever gets the first 20 mph treatment will see benefits that residents of British cities and towns have become increasingly familiar with in recent […]
Cycle Chic in Copenhagen and Beyond
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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 […]
Major Bike Mojo in Minneapolis
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In a surprising choice, the May edition of Bicycling Magazine named Minneapolis America’s best city for biking. The city still trails Portland, Oregon in the percentage of commuters who bike to work (4.3 percent to 5.9 percent, respectively, according to the most recent American Community Survey), but Minneapolis has been gaining momentum. Next month, Minneapolis will launch the […]
Streetfilms: Bike Parking at D.C.’s Bike Station
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Washington, D.C.’s Bikestation is one of the sleeker and more fully-featured bike parking facilities that Streetfilms has ever seen. Located at Union Station, the Bikestation provides secure parking for more than a hundred bicycles, offers repair, rentals, lockers, and a changing room. Members get 24/7 access. Have a look and see how D.C. has made their […]
Streetfilms: The Capital’s Colossal Contraflow Cycle Track
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While we were down in Washington, DC for the National Bike Summit, Streetfilms got the chance to check out some of the innovative bike infrastructure. Tops on our list: the city’s first protected, contraflow lane for bicyclists. The district DOT has redesigned 15th Street NW between U Street and Massachusetts Avenue to accommodate two-way bike […]