What City Observatory did this week Carmageddon does a no-show in Philly. A tanker truck caught fire and the ensuing blaze caused a section of I-95 in Philadelphia to collapse. This key roadway may be out of commission for months, and predictably, this led to predictions of “commuter chaos.” But on Monday morning, traffic in […]
The Week Observed, June 16, 2023 Read More »
On Sunday June 11, a tanker truck caught fire on I-95 and the intense heat caused a section of the freeway to collapse. I-95 is one of the nation’s principal north-south connections, and carries 160,000 vehicles per day. It’s expected that repairs to the roadway could take months. What would commuters and travelers do without
Carmageddon does a no show, again (Philadelphia edition) Read More »
What City Observatory did this week Guest contributor Miriam Pinski observes that getting the prices right could produce dramatic improvements in how US transportation systems perform. New York is on the verge of implementing congestion pricing, and other US cities are strongly considering similar policies. Pricing turns out to be the cornerstone of encouraging widespread
The Week Observed, June 9, 2023 Read More »
City Observatory is pleased to publish this guest commentary from Miriam Pinski. With the needed federal environmental approvals in hand, New York looks set to be the first American city to implement congestion pricing. This may be a watershed moment in transportation policy: if it can make it there, it can make it anywhere. Other cities, including Los
Getting prices right to improve urban transportation Read More »
What City Observatory did this week What computer renderings really show about the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project: It’s in trouble. The Interstate Bridge Project has released—after years of delay—computer graphic renderings showing possible designs for a new I-5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland. But what they show is a project in real trouble. And they
The Week Observed, June 2, 2023 Read More »
The Interstate Bridge Project has released—after years of delay—computer graphic renderings showing possible designs for a new I-5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland. But what they show is a project in real trouble. And they also conceal significant flaws, including a likely violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. Here’s what they really show: IBR
What new computer renderings really show about the IBR Read More »
What City Observatory did this week Pricing is a better, cheaper fix for congestion at the I-5 Rose Quarter. The Oregon Department of Transportation is proposing to squander $1.45 billion to widen about a mile and a half of I-5 in Portland—that’s right about $1 billion per mile. But a new analysis prepared by ODOT
The Week Observed, May 26, 2023 Read More »
What City Observatory did this week Rose Quarter tolls: Available, but not foreseeable? There’s a glaring–and illegal–contradiction in the planning for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s $1.45 billion Rose Quarter project. While ODOT’s financial plan claims that needed funds for the project will come from tolling I-5, the project’s environmental analysis claims that there’s no
The Week Observed, May 19, 2023 Read More »
Engineers would have us believe that we’re just one shiny new technology away from making streets safer for people walking Sooner than many of us thought possible, self-driving cars are in testing on city streets around the country. While a central promise of autonomous vehicle backers has been that this technological advance would eliminate road
Pedestrian safety: There’s no technical fix Read More »
What City Observatory did this week There’s plenty of time to fix the Interstate Bridge Project. Contrary to claims made by OregonDOT and WSDOT officials, the federal government allows considerable flexibility in funding and re-designing, especially shrinking costly and damaging highway widening projects In Cincinnati, the $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Project Was downsized 40
The Week Observed, May 12, 2023 Read More »
