Home / Governance 11th March 2020 Christopher Carey With Kansas City the latest to announce free transport for its residents, Christopher Carey examines the merits of such a policy and questions whether more cities should follow suit In early December 2019, members of the city council in Kansas City, Missouri unanimously approved a resolution which will see it become the first major US metropolis to …
Results show that interventions that focus on social, cultural, and moral norms have the most significant effect on travel behavior
“Dear diary, I took the bus today!” – Cost-efficient travel behavior influencers, June 15th, 2020 By Saumya Jain “Soft” transportation policy measures can influence a significant reduction in personal car use, according to a new research published in Transportation Research Part D. The Behavioral Toolkit identifies six psychological variables that can affect travel behavior: attitudes; emotions; habits; social, cultural, and moral norms; knowledge and awareness; …
US citizens would gain 3.7 years in life expectancy if social spending was raised to equal other rich countries (subsidized housing, transit, child care)
The US needs to increase social spending. And that money should come from decreasing the income gap through taxation. Elizabeth Bradley at Yale was the first to compare social spending and medical-care spending among countries. And what you see is the healthier countries prioritize social spending, whereas we in the US focus on medical-care spending. The reason the other countries are healthier is …
97% of US land area and a fifth of its population remains rural. Cultural factors and sometimes land use policies were associated with reduced rural car ownership, not transportation policies.
Emma L. Rearick, Gregory L. Newmark September 1, 2018, TRR Automobile use is recognized as affecting public health, environmental sustainability, land use, and household expense. Car use is closely tied to car ownership rates. Most car ownership research focuses on urban areas; however, 97% of the United States’ land area and a fifth of its population remains rural. Factors that affect …
Jaywalking laws disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities, they need to be abolished.
Jaywalking laws have turned public streets into private havens for drivers ever since the automobile industry lobbied for them in the first half of the 20th century. Now that study after study has shown that these laws disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities, they need to be abolished. Police enforce traffic safety laws more in greater numbers in minority communities, …
Teleworking’s hidden environmental costs
By Eric Sunquist, SSTI, Teleworking’s hidden environmental costs, May 18, 2020 Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place orders, more Americans are teleworking. This has drastically reduced VMT and air emissions. Policymakers may be tempted to try to encourage teleworking post-COVID-19 in order to keep the traffic down and the air clean. But as we’ve reported before, telework is probably not a great …
Permanent Work From Home Is Coming: Many employers now say the benefits of remote work outweigh the drawbacks, but Microsoft found 162 million people do not have internet available at broadband speeds
Estimates of workers doing their jobs from home range from about a third to nearly half. And according to Global Workplace Analytics, “a typical employer can save about $11,000 year for every person who works remotely half of the time.” And workers can bank between $2,500 and $4,000 a year working remotely half time. The Global Workplace Analytics survey shows 77% of workers …
Study: Employees who were offered free or subsidized parking drove an extra 3.1 miles to commute and 1.0 miles for non-work trips
Compared to the median VMT of 19.2 miles per day, employees who were offered free or subsidized parking drove an extra 3.1 miles to commute and 1.0 miles for non-work trips. Employees who were offered free or subsidized transit drove 3.2 miles less for commuting and 1.2 miles less for non-work trips. A complementary model controlling for built-environment variables reduced …
Top 5 U.S. Cities For Bicycling and Why
June 18th, 2020 by Cynthia Shahan on Clean Techica The relationship between bicyclists, biking, contentment, and feeling that cheerfulness you lacked before the ride is quite well known to all those who bicycle. Bike commuting is one of the most effective ways to promote general health. People for Bikes has published the top 5 cities, perhaps happier cities than most, for bikes in the US, out of …
Germany Will Require All Gasoline Stations to Provide Electric Car Chargin
Germany Will Require All Gasoline Stations to Provide Electric Car Charging. Germany said it will oblige all gasoline stations to offer electric car charging to help remove refueling concerns and boost consumer demand for the vehicles as part of its 130 billion euro ($146 billion) economic recovery plan. The move could provide a significant boost to electric vehicle demand along …