Great post by Jarrett Walker about how cynicism about public transportation amounts to consent for poor service. It's a message that's relevant to just about every aspect of civic life. They money quote: "As with many issues, public transit in America is neglected because of apathy, not opposition. The opponents are not the problem. The apathy of supporters is. And cynicism is a big part of that apathy."
Even in California, full-time bicyclists, full-time drivers, and everyone in between agrees: more bike lanes are needed, and the the more buffered and separated, the better. The article notes that this isn't an altruistic view for drivers; after all, separated bike lanes provide for a much higher level of predictability between users. Bicyclists are much safer so they're happy, and drivers have a better sense of what to expect from bicyclists so they're happy too.
After a 70% drop in multifamily housing permits and starts between 2005 and 2009, construction on apartments and condos is rapidly approaching previous levels with over 310,000 multifamily housing permits approved in 2012. There are a few interesting charts in the article, including the one reproduced above.
Angie Schmitt writes about the failure of high occupancy/toll ("HOT") lanes to meet expectations in terms of use and revenue, with drivers apparently much less willing to pay to avoid congestion than previous imagined. The original article asks the key question: “Which raises a question: given that drivers may not be all that willing to pay for a quicker trip, does it really make sense for taxpayers to invest so much in trying to give them what they won’t pay for themselves?”
...And last, a call out to anyone who might know where to find this information: There are numbers out there on how much it costs us to subsidize the airline industry per flight, but I'm hoping to find that info broken down by domestic vs. international flights. Help me out!