News: St. Louis Ridership Gains, SF Housing, Transit Ridership, Pittsburgh Stops, TIF Audit in Atlanta
Tracks News - In this section you'll find news from cities around the country as well as interviews and general reporting on issues. It might be from a newspaper or a blog, but it counts as news. The Chatter, commentary and opposition articles will be found towards the bottom.
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St. Louis: After Tax Win, Region Leads in Rider Gains St. Louis Post Dispatch Metro saw double-digit growth in bus ridership during the first quarter of 2012 and the surge in bus passengers ranked No. 1 among U.S. transit agencies, according to a new report... Read On |
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Austin: Mayor Says Urban Rail Not Ready for Ballot Austin American Statesman Urban rail is again a dream deferred. Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Austin's chief rail advocate, pulled his support Friday for a November bond election, saying the city should not ask voters to approve $275 million in debt for the first segment while so many questions linger... Read On |
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Austin: Mayor Discusses Decision KUT Mayor Lee Leffingwell announced on Friday that he opposed putting urban rail funding before voters in 2012 - a move that effectively nixed rail's funding chances in the November bond election, and raised another round of hand wringing over transportation solutions for Austin. KUT News spoke with Mayor Leffingwell shortly after his announcement... Read On |
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International: Beer Bike Popularity Spreads New York Times (via @Planetizen) Eight British bankers in orange jumpsuits, their ID patches embroidered with the names of Tolkien characters, were in town for a bachelor weekend (Frodo was getting married)... Read On |
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Pittsburgh: County to Cut Little Used LRT Stops Pittsburgh Post Gazette The Port Authority will eliminate 13 little-used stops on the Light Rail Transit system this month to speed up travel times. In announcing the move this afternoon, the authority said the stops selected for elimination were based on low boarding counts and proximity to adjacent stops... Read On |
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National: Use of Public Transit Soaring in 2012 USA Today Use of public transit is soaring. Transit agencies had record or near-record ridership in the first three months of the year, thanks to high gas prices, a mild winter and, in one city, the Super Bowl... Read On |
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New York State: AARP Wants More Transit Funding Legeslative Gazette AARP, an organization representing Americans over age 50 and Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a New York-based public transportation advocate, recommend increased funding for public transit systems across the state and legislation that would prevent diverting funds away from them... Read On |
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Seattle: Different Station Site Could Save Millions Seattle Times Moving Sound Transit's planned light-rail station in downtown Bellevue from a tunnel to a nearby hillside could save millions of dollars but disrupt parking at City Hall... Read On |
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Fort Worth: Case for Commuter Rail on the North Side Fort Worth Star Telegram On a recent morning, 16 people gathered at Diamond Hill Community Center in north Fort Worth to play loteria, a Spanish-language board game that resembles bingo. When visitors asked how many of them would use commuter rail if a station were nearby, about 16 hands quickly rose... Read On |
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Chicago: Turf War Brewing Between CTA, Metra, Pace? Daily Herald Seems just yesterday I was scarfing down breakfast at a transportation Earth Day Summit. Leaders from Pace, Metra, the CTA and RTA noshed on bagels, talked transit and commiserated over funding shortfalls. It was a wonky lovefest... Read On |
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International: Melbourne's Peak Hour Tram Crush The Age OVERCROWDING worsened on several of Melbourne's tram routes last year but peak-hour crushes also eased on other routes that had previously suffered chronic load breaches... Read On |
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National: Obama Support for HSR Still Strong The Hill Federal Railroad Administration chief Joseph Szabo said Monday that President Obama is unwavering in his support for high-speed rail projects. Speaking a conference held by the American Public Transportation Conference in Dallas, Szabo said Obama's support for rail "remains as strong as ever... Read On |
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Detroit: Feds Not Sold on Woodward Streetcar Plan Detroit Free Press The plan for a 3.3-mile light rail line on Woodward Avenue hit a red light this morning when top U.S. transportation officials told local backers of the plan that the feds still aren't convinced Detroit's streetcar plan is ready to go over the long haul... Read On |
| URBANISM/HOUSING/CITIES |
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Buffalo: New Zoning Will Shape Buffalo's Future Buffalo News (via @codestudio) When I announced the launch of the Buffalo Green Code project in 2010, I tasked city planners and a nationally renowned consultant team with fast-forwarding Buffalo's regulatory framework into the 21st century... Read On |
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Detroit: Rental Units Downtown In Demand Detroit News (via @KresgeFdn) Rental apartments from Midtown to Corktown to downtown are filling up because more workers and students are choosing to relocate to Detroit. Brad Jones, 25, a member of the marketing team at Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc., found a 1,100-square-foot apartment at the Woodward Loft for $750 a month. But it took some luck... Read On |
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Atlanta: Audit Shows Rules on TIF Money Too Lax Atlanta Journal Constitution One of Atlanta's main tools to encourage redevelopment in blighted areas with millions of dollars in taxpayer money needs a dose of extra accountability - as well as more oversight by city politicians - a soon-to-be-released audit finds... Read On |
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International: Austrian Village Replicated in China Reuters via Yahoo News A $940 million Chinese clone of one of Austria's most picturesque villages, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hallstatt, recently opened its doors to visitors in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong amidst some controversy... Read On |
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San Francisco: New Tech Groove Luring Workers to City Reuters "Who has a party in Palo Alto?" she asks the camera, in a dig at the suburban capital of Silicon Valley that helped make the two-minute comedy, "Shit Silicon Valley Says," a Web hit... Read On |
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San Francisco: Tech Boom Brings Jobs and Worries New York Times When Twitter moves into its new headquarters in downtown San Francisco this month, it will occupy three floors of an 11-story 1937 Art Deco building that has sat shuttered for five years... Read On |
