According to a recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute, Washington metro area drivers loose an average of 70 hours a year to traffic congestion, the very worst in the country.

Source: “Traffic Eases Nationwide, but Not in Washington Area” ; “Are’s No. rank in traffic delays leaves a lot to curse about”

Snoburbia, the blog is an interesting take on the life in the Snob-Burbs, or inner-ring suburbs.

Ellen Dunham-Jones, author of Retrofitting Suburbia, presents her ideas at Atlanta’s recent TED convention.  She discusses the viability and necessity to re-adapt suburbia into a livable community, addressing obesity, autodependancy, climate change, and more. The video was endorsed by The Washington Post’s Erza Klein.

James Howard Kunstler provides an insightful introduction to Suburban Sprawl

Check out the designs and VOTE on plans for addressing Long Island’s sprawling developments at BuildABetterBurb.org

update: New York Times ‘Building a Better Suburb’

A look into General Motors’ destruction of America’s public transportation system in the 1950′s, replacing it with the inefficient bus lines and invasive freeways we still live with today.


“American Makeover Episode 1: SPRAWLANTA”

A recent FHA study shows  that despite lowered gas prices and a recovering economy demand for gas is 4% lower than before the recession.  This trend suggests that Americans are choosing alternative transportation to driving, have moved closer to work and commercial zones, or are less likely to commute to work (likely a lingering effect of high unemployment). It will be interesting to see if this trend continues through the summer when demand for gas conventionally increases.

Full Story: “Shaky economy still keeping Americans off the road”

Because of President Obama’s continuation and adaptation of the Livability Initiative, policy towards transportation and infrastructure will become more diverse.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHoodhas announced that policy will no longer favor motorized transportation, writing that “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.” This new focus will help break down the barriers to pedestrian traffic.

Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/63290

Department of Transportation Policy Statement, March 15th, 2010

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