Resources
Pedestrians or trespassers? Railroad fatalities skyrocket
New data released by the federal government tells an unfortunate story about railroad fatalities: Specifically, the number of pedestrians struck and killed by trains throughout the country has increased by 26 percent over the first five months of this year. Pedestrian railroad deaths climbed to 199 in that timeframe, a rise from 158 pedestrians killed […]
A “cut and cap” solution to Austin I-35 highway may better connect Texas
You’ve no doubt already read — on this blog and likely elsewhere — about the decaying, often disastrous state that our country’s highways are currently in, from Oklahoma to Michigan, Florida to California. There is broad consensus among government, engineers, and the driving public about the state of the roads, but with limited budgets and […]
The quiet evolution of the one way sign
One way streets are valuable assets in any city – pedestrians need to know where the cars are coming from, and if everyone obeys the rules, there are fewer accidents. The overall history and evolution of signs is a fascinating subject (we think), and there is no sign more taken for granted than the one […]
U.S. license plates vs. EU’s: humor vs. efficiency?
Most of us have played the license plate game on long road trips, or taken a picture of a funny personalized plate like “IMLAWST” or “WHO5 HOT.” License plates do more than just entertain–they help our countries keep tabs on us in more ways than one. Interestingly enough, license plates were created before the dawn […]
Prudent speed limits? Impossible in the U.S.
The U.S. Interstate System Since the beginning of the 20th century, personal vehicles have allowed quick travel across the United States. The Model T, an early affordable car, had a top speed of 45 mph. People traveling across the country found themselves on unpaved roads better suited to horses. The ensuing decades saw changes in […]
U.S. 36 transformation underway
The story of U.S. 36, a Colorado highway connecting Boulder with Denver, is similar to that of other roads throughout the country: it’s overworked and under-equipped. According to the New York Times, after opening in 1952, built to carry 3,000 cars daily by 1980, the highway was serving 14,000 cars daily by 1966. Today’s figures […]
Motorcyclist fatality sheds light on dangers of moose crossings
A motorcyclist was killed, and his passenger left in critical condition, after hitting a moose crossing Alaska’s Glenn Highway last week. As unusual as the accident may sound to urban dwellers, vehicle accidents involving moose are relatively common in Alaska, which has a high population of both moose and motorcyclists. In fact, Alaska has more […]
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 […]
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 […]
Millennials drive less, but are roads safer?
“The Driving Boom—a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States—is over,” declares a recently released U.S. PIRG report. The report, which argues for replacing the driving policy of boom years with a more efficient one, found that Americans today drive less in terms of mileage than they did eight years […]
