If you build it, they will come. It is a standard trope where I live in Toronto that nobody uses the bike lanes in winter and it is a waste of space that could be used for storing or moving cars; the city is still in the thrall of the late Rob Ford. Now, Tamara Nahal and Raktim Mitra of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University have completed a study, Factors Contributing to Winter Cycling: Case Study of a Downtown University in Toronto, Canada, which looks at the issue and finds that bike lanes are used all year and they make a big difference. From the abstract: Cycling rates in many North American cities decline significantly in winter months, which is a major challen

It’s a luxury tenfold. A few extra minutes inside your apartment on a windy February morning instead of waiting at the bus stop – all because you accessed real-time transit information on your smartphone. But when you get to the bus stop at the time your phone said the bus was coming, the bus is nowhere to be found. Huh? It turns out that real-time information isn’t as accurate as we think (or hope). Here’s why: Transit agencies typically supply real-time information to passengers through automatic vehicle location (AVL) and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems. An AVL system is a GPS that’s built into the bus. The CAD system helps bus dispatchers keep bus drivers on-schedule and reroute ar

As commercial development in the Philadelphia suburbs continues to center around mixed-use communities that can approximate urban walkability and transit access, sprawling office parks seem like a relic from a previous era — but that could soon change. With more value being placed on transit access and walkability, location is more important than ever for suburban development, but precious few parcels of land remain available to develop in areas that make sense. Many older corporate campuses occupy well-positioned land, and developers and municipalities alike are looking for ways to leverage them. “We have a future land-use map, and we need to talk about how our business parks need to be dyn

Uber is expanding its reach in the Philadelphia region by introducing Express Pool, which will make Philadelphia one of just six cities in the country to offer this bus-like alternative. Express Pool will work like Uber Pool, in that drivers will pick up separate passengers and drop them off at different locations. The difference is that Express Pool will usually ask the riders to walk a few blocks to a pickup location, “dynamically located” to maximize trip efficiencies, said Ethan Stock, Uber Express Pool’s product lead, in a video-conference with reporters. Same goes for drop-offs: riders will be let out close to their destination, instead of directly in front of it, writes Jim Saksa for

Mobility Lab’s Transportation Techies brought tech lovers together last week at the Black Cat nightclub in Washington, D.C., to dig into the troves of data generated by the growing number of bikeshare companies in the capital and its surrounding communities. Among other show-and-tells, Bikeshare Hack Night VIII presenters showed their development of bikeshare user profiles, their creation of new ways to map and check bike availability, and the ways they figured out how to make real-time data even more available to planners, researchers, and app developers. Who uses bikeshare and how? Joe Haaga dug into quarterly reports from Capital Bikeshare – CaBi, to fans of the docked bikes operator – fo

The first thing you might consider after looking at the Twitter feed of Seattle’s chief traffic engineer Dongho Chang is that he may possibly be two, or three, or even four people. It does not seem logistically feasible for one person to be at this many places in the city at once, surveying the installation of bike lanes, supervising the construction of new sidewalks, and guiding the larger decisions that move Seattle residents. And he does it all, for the most part, on a bicycle. “I do some riding around early in the morning and take a look at concerns at the end of the day,” says Chang (who is, in fact, in Spandex bike pants when I speak with him). Today’s concern, for example, is a report

NORRISTOWN >> The state of Montgomery County is strong. That was the prevailing message the county commissioners relayed in their annual state of the county presentations at Thursday’s meeting at One Montgomery Plaza. Commission Chair Dr. Val Arkoosh began the address by explaining the county’s metrics for success: a vibrant economy, healthy communities and the effectiveness with which the county meets the needs of its citizens. She began by harkening back to 2012, when the county faced a $10 million budget deficit, was making no payments to the pension fund, and had a depleted reserve fund. Now, Arkoosh said, the county is on “strong financial footing” through the administration’s focus on

Seattle is the fastest growing city in the U.S., thanks largely to Amazon’s addition of 35,000 employees since 2010. For all the economic benefits that come with growth, it has also created a variety of civic headaches, crippling traffic chief among them. But thanks in part to considerable efforts by the region’s largest employers, the share of commuters driving solo into downtown Seattle is on a dramatic decline. Just 25 percent of workers traveling into the center city drove themselves, according to the results of the latest annual commuter survey by the Seattle Department of Transportation and nonprofit partner Commute Seattle. This is the lowest share since the city started keeping track

Last week in the midst of celebratory Super Bowl chaos, six Philadelphia transportation projects quietly got a nice boost of funding -- $7.3 million total, to be exact -- that will help further shape infrastructure for everyone who shares the road. The money allocated for Philadelphia-based projects is just one slice of a larger $41.5 million Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) investment in highway, bridge, bike, pedestrian, ports, and waterway project investments that will reach a total of 22 counties. “We are making possible improvements that will bring significant benefits to these communities,” Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, which

Electric cars are far from new, although it sometimes seems like it. Since the 1830s, when the first electric carriage was developed, electric cars have been considered the future of transportation – always over the horizon, never quite ready. Finally, however, we seem on the verge of true mass-market adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) This, in a nutshell, was the message of “The Future of Electric Mobility and Transportation,” a panel at the 2018 Auto Show in Washington, D.C. Energy guru Kate Gordon opened the session by saying that we need to look not just at the automobile itself but the entire system, where its power comes from and how it is delivered (and I would add the land-use patte

Three municipalities in Chester County will receive more than $3.4 million in state funding to improve roads, upgrade an intersection, and enhance pedestrian and bicycle travel. The projects are as follows: $1.26 million for the Borough of Phoenixville for the construction of the Northern Relief Route, Ashburn Road Extension. Under this project, the borough, in partnership with a private developer, will construct a regional arterial connector by reconstructing and extending Ashburn Road (Fillmore Street) 0.34 miles from where Ashburn Road ends to Township Line Road. $143,836 for Oxford Borough for downtown roadway and pedestrian access improvements related to the construction of a proposed t

Pittsburgh Mayor William (Bill) Peduto, who just began his second term this year, has presided over a historic era of change in that city. Back in 2002, I wrote my book The Rise of the Creative Class while living in Pittsburgh and teaching at Carnegie Mellon. I dubbed the city my “base case” in the transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. “If Pittsburgh, with all of its assets and its emerging human creativity, somehow can’t make it in the Creative Age,” I wrote, “I fear the future does not bode well for other older industrial communities and established cities.” Today, it looks like Pittsburgh has made it. It is more likely to be mentioned in the same breath with tech hub

In 2008, the Phillies won the World Series for the first time in 25 years. But, SEPTA stranded some of the crowds of baseball fans who tried to cheer them on, as trains full of passengers from outer regional rail stations bypassed closer ones. Not this time. While the lines were long, riders like Gary Bringhurst from May's Landing took it in stride. "It is what it is. Can't control it. You got 3 million people in the city, what are you gonna do." SEPTA and Patco pared down the number of stations accepting passengers, to make trains run faster and ensure all commuters could ride. The subways were free all day Thursday, sweetening the sting for riders inconvenienced by a skipped stop or a dela

Munich Poised for Major Transit Expansion Munich’s municipal left-right coalition government has released plans for a program of metro and tram line construction that will expand the Bavarian capital’s rail transit network by 20 percent, the International Railway Journal reports. The €5.5 billion ($6.83 billion U.S.) plan will add 40 km (24.9 miles) of new metro and tram lines to Munich’s existing network over a span of about 20 years. The centerpiece of the expansion plan is a new north-south metro line through the city center. Line U9 is being built to relieve congestion on lines that parallel it to its east and west. The new line, which should take 10 years to complete, will run from Nord

Frustrations ran high Wednesday morning as SEPTA sold out of Regional Rail passes at several stations for Thursday's Eagles victory parade. Fans lined up as early as 3 a.m. Wednesday morning to pick up one of 50,000 special passes when they went on sale at 5 a.m. As of 10:30 a.m., only 4,000 passes remained. Limited tickets are still available at Cornwell Heights, Langhorne, Philmont, Chestnut Hill East and Fox Chase, Lansdale/Doylestown and Media. Click here for details. In an effort to avoid pains felt during the 2008 Phillies parade, SEPTA is limiting its service Thursday to focus on getting passengers to and from the parade. Riders who typically use public transportation to get to work s

Editor's note: Story has been updated to include information on PATCO service changes. The Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines will be free Thursday, one of several changes SEPTA said would happen to its services Thursday to accommodate the Eagles Super Bowl LII victory parade through the city. PATCO also announced its own service changes following SEPTA's update. MFL & BROAD STREET LINES In a Tuesday announcement, SEPTA encouraged Eagles fans heading to the parade, set to kick off at 11 a.m. at Pattison Avenue and South Broad Street, to take the MFL and Broad Street Line. Both lines, free Thursday thanks to Independence Blue Cross, will run every 5 to 7 minutes beginning at 5 a.m. Addit

The City of Philadelphia has released details on the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LII victory parade. See pertinent details below, including road closures. Parade Activities & Information The Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Parade will step off from Broad Street and Pattison Avenue at 11:00AM, on Thursday, February 8, traveling northbound on Broad Street to S. Penn Square, westbound on S. Penn Square to 15th Street, northbound on 15th Street to JFK Blvd., westbound on JFK Blvd. to 16th Street, northbound on 16th Street to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, westbound on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Eakins Oval, terminating at Philadelphia Museum of Art apron. A formal program will take place

If you thought the night of the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win was nuts, just wait for the big victory parade, which will take place on Thursday, February 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The main details are officially out for the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl victory parade, which will potentially draw millions of people to Philly’s streets to cheer on the team as the Birds bring the Lombardi Trophy home for the first time ever. Mayor Jim Kenney said Tuesday morning, “We do anticipate tremendous crowds, potentially topping the number that turned out for Phillies World Series parade in 2008.” So yes, it may very well be the biggest celebration Philly has ever experienced in its long, long history.

City streets have gotten crowded, and it’s not just due to more cars. Between the race to develop autonomous vehicle technology, the growth in ride-sharing and bikesharing, and the continued refinement of electric vehicles, more companies are competing to shape the future of urban transit. Earlier today, 15 leading technology and transportation companies announced the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, a voluntary set of rules and principles meant to help steer the future of transportation towards solutions that address equity, environmental, and social concerns. The initial signatories—Uber and Lyft, as well as BlaBlaCar, Citymapper, Didi, Keolis, LimeBike, Mobike, Motivate, Ofo

It's almost as if oil giants are worried about what the future might hold... When Shell, the largest oil company in Europe, bought the continent's largest network of electric vehicle charging stations and an electric utility too, I suggested it was a sign that Big Oil was beginning to see the need to diversify. Now it appears that BP is following suit. First it signaled that it's scanning the markets for good renewables deals, including a $200 million investment in solar, and now it's invested $5 million in FreeWire, a provider of mobile electric vehicle charging solutions. True, $5 million is nothing by BP's standards. But the choice of a mobile charging station provider—whose units can be