Google’s wayfinding company wants to help drivers and riders find each other on its navigation app—and ease traffic congestion along the way. They came to our WeWork. And they brought us tacos. That’s how Waze Carpool convinced just over a hundred mostly young professionals at my shared workplace in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown to download their new ride-sharing app. Bearing free lunches and promotional goodies, teams from the Google-owned company have been making the rounds at workplaces and campuses around the country to nudge young people into sharing rides on the way to work. The wayfinding app’s carpooling spinoff service has been live nationwide since last October, but convincing Ameri

Passengers will be able to travel 680 miles, between Tokyo and Sapporo, in less than four hours. The picture of a “bullet train” speeding past Mount Fuji is an iconic image of modern Japan. In recent years, however, Japan has lost the “world’s fastest passenger train” title to China — if only by a few miles per hour. But now, Japan plans to reclaim that crown, with a new bullet train that will whisk between cities with journey times that rival passenger jets. The Alfa-X train, unveiled by rail company JR East, will carry passengers at up to 224 miles per hour, outpacing the fastest Japanese bullet trains in commercial service today by almost 25 miles per hour. At that speed, the 680-mile jou

E-scooters weigh less than 100 pounds and ride at a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. Could electric scooters soon be zooming along Philadelphia streets, like they do in other cities like Washington D.C., Baltimore and Los Angeles? Philadelphia is among the last big-city holdouts to allow e-scooter rentals. However, City Council already approved them for rent. But the state legislature has yet to approve them, and companies looking to bring e-scooters to city streets need Harrisburg's approval. These electric scooters weigh less than 100 pounds and can hit a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. New York City and Philadelphia are the last two of the top ten U.S. cities to hop on the e-scoote

A pedestrian threads his way through snarled traffic at Broad and Chestnut streets. (Emma Lee/WHYY) Philadelphia drivers have a reputation for road rage and SEPTA just gave them a new reason to be ticked off. A new study commissioned by the transit agency found local households are paying a de-facto congestion tax of $260 a year. The unofficial tariff comes in the way of time and revenue lost to sitting in traffic, according to the study done by EConsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm. EConsult studied the impact of clogged streets on SEPTA’s service and the city as a whole. The firm studied Center City, between Vine and South, from river to river, and found drivers and pas

The car is set to undergo a massive transformation in the coming years, as automation gradually eliminates the need for drivers, and electric and hybrid vehicles occupy a growing share of the global market. But, in a future where autonomous cars arrive on demand to take you where you need to go, there seems little point in owning one. The average car spends around 90 percent of its life parked. A shift away from privately owned vehicles towards a service — owned and run by public or private ventures — is a smart and efficient solution that will revolutionize the way traffic flows through cities. But it also could have profound consequences for existing transport systems such as trains, metro

If you could do anything to improve transportation in your city, what would it be? Here are a few ideas you gave us, selected from 250 reader submissions. Cities across the country are coming up with innovative solutions to improve transportation. Seattle invested heavily in public transit, and it paid off: The city managed to grow its population and decrease its car traffic at the same time. New York will achieve a historic first by becoming the first American city to implement congestion pricing — charging vehicles to drive into the busiest parts of the city. San Francisco is going as far as to close off part of one of its busiest streets to traffic completely. In our first What Works pack

PennDOT released the results of its 2019 statewide transportation survey this month. The survey asked roughly 6,400 residents across the state what they think of Pennsylvania's current transportation systems, how people move around the state, and what they'd like to see happen before the next biennial survey. What they found, in short: Pennsylvanians like to drive in their cars, normally alone, and they'd like to have an easier time doing so. According to the survey, 77% of Pennsylvania residents often drive in their car alone, 51% of residents regularly walk or ride a bike as a mode of transportation, and just 19% use public transit or rail to move around their city or town. The U.S. Depart

After more than two decades away, Chester County and SEPTA officials announced Thursday that regional rail service is set to return to the city. SEPTA's coming back to Coatesville. After more than two decades away, Chester County and SEPTA officials announced Thursday that regional rail service is set to return to the city. The move is part of a larger effort to revitalize Coatesville. "Each train coming into the new station will bring with it developments and businesses offering more jobs and more opportunities," Commissioner Kathi Cozzone said in a news release. "And each train leaving the new station will give access to regional jobs and greater economic opportunities for those living in

The Federal Highway Administration recently announced the availability of $60 million in grant funding for states and cities pursuing projects that involve transportation technologies. FHWA published a notice of funding opportunity for its Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Program on June 12. State departments of transportation, local government and transit agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations are allowed to apply for the $60 million in available funding. “This program puts a priority on promoting innovative solutions that improve safety and mobility for our nation’s drivers,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement. The p

Uber and Volvo Cars will soon deploy an updated fleet of self-driving SUVs in limited testing, an Uber executive said Tuesday. Volvo will manufacture the XC90s with steering and braking systems, much like those in its human-driven models, but they will be designed for computer control, with backup steering and braking. If the primary controls fail the backup technology will stop the vehicle. A range of sensors will allow Uber’s system to safely maneuver in defined urban situations. This marks the third derivative of an autonomous Volvo vehicle to be deployed by Uber since the two companies formed a partnership in 2016. The state of Arizona suspended Uber’s self-driving test program in March

The impacts of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act not only affected federal requirements for reporting qualified transportation fringe benefits on unrelated business income at the federal level but also at the state level for states that automatically adopt federal guidelines for calculating UBIT. This means tax-exempt organizations located in states like Minnesota, Hawaii, Illinois, Georgia, and Maine to name a few, would not only be required to pay the 21% federal tax on unrelated business income, but their state income tax as well. Last year, New York was one of the first states to pass a “decoupling” law, which effectively removed the inclusion of the qualified transportation fringe benefit from

A new short film celebrates bike-friendly Amsterdam’s no-drama strategy for eliminating car parking: “It’s not a big deal here.” Visitors to Amsterdam may notice something new in coming years: more Amsterdam, and fewer cars. Earlier this year, local leaders announced plans to scale back parking in Amsterdam’s core by about 1,500 spaces per year. As a new video by Streetfilms documents, visitors and locals alike can take in more of the city’s iconic canals, bridges, and gabled architecture with fewer vehicles blocking the view. The streets “are yours again,” Katelijne Boerma, the Dutch city’s official bike mayor, says in the film. Some communities have already begun to re-envision their newly

WEST CHESTER, PA — The Chester County Commissioners recognized the efforts of leadership, board members and staff of the Chester County Planning Commission at a recent Sunshine public meeting, noting national and regional accolades for Landscapes3, Chester County’s newly adopted long-range comprehensive plan. Landscapes3 has received a national award from the American Planning Association (APA) County Planning Division and an Achievement Award in Planning from the National Association of Counties (NACo). Additionally, GVF presented Chester County with the Public Leadership Award at its May annual meeting, based on the newly adopted Landscapes3 Plan and the County’s support of smart transpor

If you've ever wanted to ride a ball to work, now you can. Jyroball is a spherical, self-balancing electric vehicle that can travel at more than 12 mph. It looks like a large soccer ball or basketball with retractable foot platforms coming out of its core. It's available for pre-orders Tuesday before it ships in September. The rideable rubber ball comes from vehicle company Moby, which works with pioneers from the weird rideable market like the inventor of the self-balancing unicycle launched back in 2005. However, Jyroball doesn't claim to be a hoverboard or other one-wheel vehicles (like the easy-to-remember OneWheel skateboard that recently released a smaller 27-inch long Pint version), b

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has added 25 new electric buses to two routes in South Philadelphia. What was once two trackless trolley routes will now become a bit more environmentally friendly. The 29 and 79 routes in South Philly now have 25 new electronic buses for daily use. These e-buses will be able to run a full day of service on a seven-hour charge. The 40-foot Proterra Catalyst electric buses cost $24 million and were in paid in part with a $2.5 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration's Low or No Emission Program. These 25 new buses came as part of SEPTA's "SEP-tainable" sustainability plan for 2020. The company debuted the first electric bus i

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — All hail the bicyclists of the greater Philadelphia region. They’ve got legs of iron and nerves of steel as they compete for a slice of space on our car-choked streets, sailing through clouds of vehicle fumes and motorists’ irritation while leaving nary a speck of carbon in their wake. There are lots of reasons people grab a two-wheel ride instead of their car keys. It’s potentially a huge money-saver as well as excellent exercise. It enhances your mood as well as your productivity. But one thing we love most about it is that it’s carbon-free. Transportation is the largest single source of carbon emissions in the U.S. Relying on foot (or leg) power, you can do

(SAN MATEO COUNTY/SILICON VALLEY) Weighing the potential tolls of development and an evolving community, Burlingame officials started addressing policy outlining a commitment to protecting the environment over the coming decades. The Burlingame Planning Commission and City Council during a joint discussion Saturday, April 28, opened a discussion on the city’s updated climate action plan document. Officials are crafting the proposal in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the coming two decades through improved mobility routes, more efficient development practices, natural resource conservation and more. The plan raises 20 measures designed to make Burlingame a more environmental

Sam Schwartz knew that New York’s crippling traffic jams were bad for the city long before he coined the term that would become synonymous with urban automotive nightmare. As a young New York City traffic engineer in the 1970s, Schwartz worked on never-implemented plans to close midtown Manhattan to cars at midday and charge tolls on 14 bridges that connect Manhattan to Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Schwartz’s “grid-lock prevention program” during New York’s 1980 transit strike, which earned him the nickname “Gridlock Sam,” kept traffic flowing by banning driver-only cars during rush hour in most of Manhattan. For 48 years, Schwartz has pursued his holy-grail solution to gridlock: congesti

WEST CHESTER — Chester County has earned an award for its efforts to improve air quality and protect public health. GVF nominated the County of Chester for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Air Quality Partnership Excellence award. “It is an honor for the County to receive this award for our efforts – our initiatives and best practices – to reduce air pollution,” said Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Kichline on behalf of the Board of Commissioners. “Our new comprehensive plan, Landscapes3, specifically calls for the advancement of multimodal transportation options that reduce congestion, support a resilient and clean energy network, and help address climate change.” “The

Legend has it that the young civil engineer who laid down the route for San Francisco’s Market Street in the 1800s so enraged people with the street’s unusual width that a mob chased him out of town. More than a century later, Market Street is one of the city’s key arteries, a wide boulevard on which the city’s historic streetcars jostle with buses, taxicabs, private passenger cars, Uber and Lyft rides, delivery vehicles and thousands of people biking every day. During peak hours, there are 100 buses running in either direction. But Market Street is also the center of something traffic officials somewhat ominously refer to as the “High-Injury Network,” a collection of about 13 percent of the