Infrastructure

Washington D.C. residents against sidewalk biking
Even though Washington D.C. bans bike riding on sidewalk in its central business district (CBD), some residents want reforms in its 30-year-old law that imposes limited restrictions on sidewalk biking. Cycling on sidewalks puts pedestrians’ safety at risk and leads to congestion on sidewalks, especially when biking has nearly doubled since 2007 in the city. […]

Federal gas tax means infrastructure funds running on empty
With the recent talk about who’s responsible for covering the costs of restoring and maintaining America’s crumbling infrastructure, many mistakenly believe that the gas tax, collected via the U.S. Highway Trust Fund, goes a long way towards maintenance and improvement costs for our nation’s highways. Yet upon closer inspection, the numbers point out some potentially […]

In CA, bike lanes are on drivers’ wishlists
Surveys in San Francisco and Los Angeles suggest that both drivers and cyclists want separate space for bicycles. This separate space in the form of bike lanes not only protects cyclists from automobile traffic, but also makes drivers feel safe around bicycles. This insight could prove useful for city planners who are often blamed for […]

Mortgage interest deduction creates suburban sprawl
Although federal housing subsidies like the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) are offered to provide affordable housing and stabilize communities, they end up creating sprawling suburban areas rather than benefiting the densely populated, high-growth inner city areas. This happens because more subsidies are given to single-family houses (which usually belong to richer people), rather than to […]