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Cover It Up: Decking over Madison’s John Nolen Drive would benefit the city but faces complex challenges

by admin in Archives, Green Downtown, John Nolen Drive, News

Madison’s downtown has seen a boom in residential and mixed-use development, and the city’s 2012 Downtown Plan aims to guide and balance density, vibrant and walkable streets and public spaces, and historic preservation. A number of persistent challenges remain, however, particularly the downtown’s thin connection to Lake Monona, transportation hotspots, and a need for more public parks.

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Fact Checking the WisDOT VMT “factsheet”

by admin in Archives, Balanced Transportation, Fighting Wasteful Spending, News, Transportation

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is having a tough time justifying new highway projects when highway use is down. So now they have a new tactic – denial. They simply deny that traffic is down – and they have issued a “fact sheet” to promote their view.

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Don’t blame the Prius! The real reason the transportation fund is running dry

by admin in Archives, Balanced Transportation, News, Transportation, WisDOT budget

The Wisconsin State Journal in a news article this week states that the state will be short $15.3 billion over the next decade” largely because more fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids and electric cars, are eroding state revenues from the gas tax, the largest source of state transportation funding.” These statements have been repeated by DOT officials, media publications and transportation professionals – blaming more efficient cars and electric vehicles for the precipitous fall in state transportation revenues. While this is no-doubt true, this is definitely not the main reason why fuel tax revenues are dropping.

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Calming dangerous roads

by admin in Archives, Balanced Transportation, Biking&Walking, News, Transportation

Nearly 32,000 Americans die each year from traffic accidents. This is the equivalent of a fully loaded jumbo jet crashing each week. Highway engineers go through the morbid exercise of trying to estimate the number of inevitable deaths on any section of roadway they design. Putting this in context – wouldn’t it be ludicrous if an architect estimated that a certain number of people would inevitably die annually as a direct result of using a building she designs?

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