Cities leading the way off cars and pollution

BY ADELE PETERS Fast Company, March 2019 In downtown Cairo, it’s not uncommon to see streets clogged with cars. But in a proposed redesign for a central thoroughfare, they’re hard to spot. Instead, in the concept illustration for what looks like the Egyptian version of Amsterdam, a two-way bike lane, a sidewalk, and a plaza filled with palm trees replace the sea of …

What Republicans and Billionaires Really Mean When They Talk About ‘Freedom’: Freedom to be homeless, jobless, and unable to access health care when you need it

Franklin D. Roosevelt when he proposed, in January 1944, a “second Bill of Rights” to be added to our Constitution. FDR’s proposed amendments included the right to a job, and the right to be paid enough to live comfortably; the right to “adequate food and clothing and recreation”; the right to start a business and run it without worrying about “unfair competition and domination by monopolies”; the right “of every family …

Report: Pedestrian deaths at highest level in nearly 30 years

Katie Pyzyk, Utility Dive, March 4, 2019 The number of pedestrian fatalities in 2018 is projected to be the highest since 1990, according to preliminary data from an annual report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). GHSA’s preliminary projection puts the year’s total fatalities at 6,227, a 4% increase over 2017 that continues an upward trend in fatality numbers. The number of pedestrian deaths increased …

Study of Antarctic sea ice collapse warns of potential 10-foot sea rise, with rate of ocean warming up 50% since 1991.

Gigantic hole two-thirds the size of Manhattan discovered in Antarctic glacier, Sheena McKenzie, CNN, January 31, 2019 (CNN) A massive cavity two-thirds the size of Manhattan has been discovered growing in an Antarctic glacier, signaling rapid ice decay that has shocked scientists. The huge hole — measuring almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) tall — was found growing at an “explosive rate” at the …

U.S. traffic fatalities rise while international numbers improve. US not yet engaged with “freedom from death and injury on roads”

U.S. traffic fatalities rise while international numbers improve  Posted on August 20th, 2018 By Robbie Webber A new report by the International Transport Forum highlights how the United States is losing the battle to reduce traffic fatalities, while other countries improve their safety records. Out of 41 countries contributing to the International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group, most reported a reduction in …

Permitting rights on red increases pedestrian crashes by 60 percent and bike crashes by 100 percent, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in the 1980s

By Angie Schmitt on May 15, 2018 on Streetsblog Legal right turns on red are practically a given at intersections from rural Oklahoma to urban Boston. But it wasn’t always so. It wasn’t until the 1970s that allowing drivers to turn right during the red signal phase became common across the country, says Bill Schultheiss, a civil engineer at Toole Design Group …

Safety expert says: ‘We’re doomed’: Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no one else will dare mention

By Patrick Barkham, in The Guardian.  The 86-year-old social scientist says accepting the impending end of most life on Earth might be the very thing needed to help us prolong it.  Thu 26 Apr 2018   Dr Mayer Hillman with his bike outside his home in London. Photograph: John Alex Maguire / Rex Features “We’re doomed,” says Mayer Hillman with such a beaming smile that it …

SUVs cause nearly 3x the fatalities as other crashes with pedestrians

Almost 6,000 pedestrians were killed on American streets in 2016, an increase of nearly 50 percent since 2009. The cause of the increase, however, has stumped some safety analysts. Groups like the Governors Highway Safety Association, for example, have advanced theories on “distracted walking,” without much evidence. But a new study from a major group, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, …