Posted May 2, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
On Monday the Obama administration announced the president's pick to take over from Ray Lahood as secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The nominee is Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx, who is an excellent choice -- and also a proponent of...continued→
Posted April 30, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Lately, I've been on a bit of a tear writing about traffic congestion and its impact on commuting. For instance, titles of some of my recent blogs include: Less funding, more traffic Transportation Triple Threat: Bad Roads, Worse Traffic and...continued→
Posted April 24, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
This is not a blog about women drivers, I swear. That stereotype is ridiculous. Just ask anyone in my family and they'll tell you that my lovely wife is a much better driver than I am. I admit it, they're right. ...continued→
Posted April 19, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
The Obama administration has taken historic strides to reduce America's dependence on oil, most notably by raising automobile fuel standards to 54.5 miles-per-gallon last year. Considering that the transportation sector consumes a whopping 71% of petroleum in the U.S., clean cars are a must. More recently, President Obama proposed...continued→
Posted March 12, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
In a recent blog post I mentioned the phenomenon of extreme or "mega-commuters" -- the nearly 600,000 U.S. workers who travel at least 90 minutes and 50 miles to work every day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey. I just...continued→
Posted March 11, 2013 by Rob Perks in Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Walk more, live better. That's according to a 10-year study just published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, which found that: for every local shop, residents' physical activity increased an extra 5-6 minutes of walking per week for every recreational facility...continued→
Posted March 5, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
My daily commute to downtown D.C. from the Maryland 'burbs takes about 45 minutes, but fortunately I don't have to drive to work. Living a short walk from a transit station and a straight-shot Metro train ride to within a few blocks of my...continued→
Posted March 5, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
"We've run out money, now we have to think." -- Winston Churchill California has done it. Wyoming just did it. New Hampshire is poised to do it too. And Minnesota is looking to do it again. Those states realize that declining...continued→
Posted February 21, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
The Ohio state legislature is in the midst of debating Governor Kasich's proposed $6.1 billion budget for transportation. Unfortunately, the budget is heavily tilted towards road funding, with a little more than 1 percent slated for public transportation. This is disappointing...continued→
Posted February 6, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Beep-beep! Honk! Screeeeech! Ugh. No matter where we live we all hate traffic. But all gridlock is not created equally -- some places have it worse than others. Washington, D.C., where I work, is known for its particularly bad commute. Indeed,...continued→
Posted January 23, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
No two ways about it, America's transportation infrastructure is falling into disrepair and failing to keep up with the demands of our growing population. Costs for our roads, bridges, railways, runways and ports steadily mount as funding for our extensive...continued→
Posted January 18, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Lord knows you'd be hardpressed to find many Americans who like paying a tax on gasoline, let alone any who favor raising it. Of course, folks like me who work on transportation policy by and large understand that the primary...continued→
Posted January 17, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
So yesterday I blogged about how much people love public transportation and favor investment to expand and enhance it, according to recent opinion polling. Well, the caveat is that unless transit is reliable, people won't bother taking it. Governing magazine just...continued→
Posted January 16, 2013 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
On the heels of NRDC's nationwide public opinion polling which found strong support for public transportation amongst voters across the political spectrum, a new poll by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reveals similar findings. To recap, here are just a...continued→
Posted December 24, 2012 by Rob Perks in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
Another "woe is me" article today in the Washington Post about how Virginia is strapped for cash to cover its transportation costs. State lawmakers gnash their teeth and howl about the dire need to increase revenue yet none have the stomach for...continued→
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