Floyd A. O'Reilly Blog: The Monday Roundup: LA’s freeway follies, Vision Zero’s policing problem, a rail vision, and more

Monday, February 12, 2018

The Monday Roundup: LA’s freeway follies, Vision Zero’s policing problem, a rail vision, and more

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most important stories we came across in the past seven days…

Vision Zero’s dilemma: Police statistics in Chicago show that 56 percent of all bike-related traffic tickets were issued in neighborhood with a majority of black residents — compared with 18 percent in white neighborhoods. (via @schmangee)

‘Bike Hunters’ strike gold: Bike company Vanmoof literally went the extra mile to catch the thief of a customer’s bike and uncovered a multinational bike theft ring in the process.

Toddlers-eye view of cities: A new film series follows toddlers while they discover urban streetscapes on foot. (via @awalkerinLA)

Transit use growing in Vancouver, Canada: Any transit experts in the audience know why metro-areas in Canada — especially Vancouver — are kicking butt with ridership while most U.S. cities are seeing a decline? (via @Dale_Bracewell)

Math-inspired myth-busting: Urban planning consultant Brent Toderian offers this handy guide to common transportation myths that are easily dispelled by using mathematics.

Origin of ‘jaywalking’: None other than Merriam-Webster offers more clues about the origin of the word ‘jaywalker’. (Unfortunately they think the reason it survived and its precursor ‘jay-driver’ disappeared from use is a mystery, when we all know that the reason is due to a coordinated propaganda campaign from the auto industry.)

Go ahead, split my lane: I like to see how motorcycle users are treated in our legislative system because there are often interesting cultural parallels to bicycle users. The struggle to pass lane-splitting laws is one such example.

$1 billion: After spending a billion dollars to improve congestion on I-405 in Los Angeles, traffic data shows it has done very little to accomplish that goal.

LA doing what LA does: In what the LA Times calls a “throwback” move, for the first time in 25 years Los Angeles County plans to build a new freeway — despite the fact that it’s 2018. At least this time people are already expressing concerns about the toll it will exact on communities and the earth.

Danger zones: Five of the 10 most dangerous sections of roads in Oregon — based on based on crash rate, frequency and severity of the crash over the past three years — are on either SE Powell or 82nd.

Portland’s sordid past: A history gem uncovered by KOIN and architecture writer Brian Libby depicts a grim, car-dominated downtown Portland landscape in 1970.

Rail rules: We are fully behind the “Cascadia Rail” vision for a high-speed line that would connect Seattle, Vancouver (WA), and Portland. (via Seattle Transit Blog)

Video of the Week: Be inspired not just by the quantity of bikes and the quality of behavior by the people who ride them — but wait for the 37-second mark for a big surprise. (via @why_not_bikes)