Tag Archives: Access and Mobility

Hip-hop signs ease pain of downtown road closing

December 1, 2019
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An eight-month road closure in downtown Hartford, CT (est. pop. 122,591), caused shoppers, commuters, and business owners to groan. While construction disrupted downtown businesses, the Hartford Business Improvement District (HBID) used whimsical construction signs to make light of the inconvenience and to stress that this, too, shall pass. HBID recognized that traditional construction signs blend…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Closing main drag to cars speeds bus travel

December 1, 2019
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The M14 bus usually crawls across one of Manhattan’s busiest crosstown thoroughfares at 5 mph. After New York City officials barred car traffic along 14th Street, however, the buses suddenly zipped so quickly that bus drivers had to slow down to stick to their schedules. New York City’s promising results could offer an alternative to…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Help businesses thrive during road work

November 1, 2019
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Wiscasset, ME (est. pop. 1,092), undertook a sweeping redesign of Main Street that includes widening sidewalks, adding lighting, installing bollards, renovating sidewalks, improving drainage, and redesigning parking. Such an ambitious project meant a lot of construction headaches. To help local leaders around the state minimize the impact of such projects, MaineDOT developed Digging Maine, a…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Hard hat specials

November 1, 2019
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Despite streetcar construction in downtown Tempe, AZ, intrepid visitors donned hard hats and enjoyed all that the city center has to offer.  Each week the Tempe Downtown Authority gave away 100 reusable yellow hard hats imprinted with the association logo. People wearing hard hats could claim an hour of free parking as well as specials…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Downtown shuttle service adjusts, adapts

October 1, 2019
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A free microtransit service in downtown Tampa, FL (est. pop. 385,423), moves 500 passengers a day, making it a marked success. The Downtowner is an Uber-style service that lets commuters summon rides with their phones. The average wait is 15 minutes, but so many commuters use the Downtowner at peak times that waits can be…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Downtown abruptly loses microtransit service

October 1, 2019
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For a year and a half, visitors to downtown Sarasota, FL (est. pop. 55,103), could travel the district via black-and-teal electric cars. But the third-party operator of the microtransit service pulled the plug so quickly that its sleek little vehicles are still stored in a downtown garage. The microtransit service's departure underscored the reality that…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Chalking tires of parked cars? You might be violating motorists’ rights

October 1, 2019
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The age-old parking practice of using chalk to mark the tires of parked cars faces legal scrutiny - and it just might be unconstitutional. A federal appellate court has sided with a motorist who sued Saginaw, MI (est. pop. 49,366), for violating her Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search. The motorist, Alison Taylor, sued after…To read more — login/subscribe

 

City scrutinizes parking patterns, adjusts rates based on findings

September 1, 2019
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Many cities set downtown parking rates and then forget about them for years. A few of the largest cities have embarked on ambitious parking plans that rely on wireless sensors and real-time data to adjust prices throughout the day. Seattle (est. pop. 724,764) chose a middle route. The city carefully studies parking patterns and then…To read more — login/subscribe