The 2020 PeopleForBikes ratings on America’s Best Places For Bikes have been published and the City of Richmond improved greatly beyond ratings from the first two years of this data-driven scoring system. Richmond is rated among other American cities somewhere in the 40s (tied with several cities). Continue reading
Tag Archives: transit
PeopleForBikes credits Richmond for becoming a better place to ride a bicycle
Filed under Urban Planning
No more roads. It is hard enough to maintain what we’ve got
America does not need more roads. We have enough pavement in the United States to at least cover the entire state of Georgia (61,000 square miles, and that is an old study). Enough is enough.
According to a recent article published by Slate, “the last thing America needs from [President] Trump’s infrastructure plan is more more roads.”
Filed under Urban Planning
Record number of miles driven is a failure, not an accomplishment
“It’s Wow Wednesday! U.S. sets record in 2016 with an estimated 3.2 trillion miles traveled.” – Tweet from the Federal Highway Administration.
This is not good news. The “wow” here is that the Federal Highway Administration does not understand that we need to encourage people to drive less, not more. Driving 3.2 trillion miles is not an accomplishment, but rather a failure. It is in the best interest for our country that we promote alternative transportation options, not the consumption and exhaustion of the world’s remaining fossil fuels. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
With ‘Door to Door,’ Humes’ look at transportation in U.S. is a fast read, but worth taking it slow
I rarely read books before everyone else and I’m even less likely to finish a book quickly. However, with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes’ Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation, he had my attention and was I strapped in for a fast ride.
The book is a wonderful read and inspiring to me as a writer and transportation planner. Humes covers many forms of transportation — from walking and biking to rail freight and cargo ships and even self-driving cars — and he touches on how fragile our entire transportation system is, especially thanks to our addiction to the solo-driven automobile. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
Do you have an open mind with your work commute?
I’ve been reevaluating my work commute and transit habits for several months. I’ve been looking for more ways to incorporate riding the bus and biking as an alternative to driving my car.
I’m close to dropping my parking deck in downtown Richmond to save $45 monthly and instead bike for free or put that money to use in $3 round-trip for the GRTC bus route or the occasional $5-$7 parking deck fee near my office.
Filed under My life
Phil Riggan 