We've got a Roadshow - New York has a bike column in the Times
Found this interesting take on transportation this morning in the New York Times. The Times is starting a new column called "Ask a Bicycle Mechanic" this Wednesday.
Compare that with this weekends posting in the Mercury News about widening Highway 101 south of 280-680.
In years past, the Capitol-101 exit was near the top of the Dirty Dozen list, but complaints last year were few. Why? My theory is that drivers sometimes give up and stop griping, figuring relief is so far away that no amount of howling will help. But later this year, work could begin on widening 101 from I-280 to Capitol and rebuilding the Tully interchange. Fixing the Capitol exit remains down the road, however.
This Roadshow answer on widening area freeways was in the same Sunday paper in which the following article appeared: "San Jose, home developers balk at proposed air pollution guidelines". The article describes how developments near freeways may be restricted due to increased health risks crated from nearby freeway pollution. Under proposed new air quality guidelines development could be restricted in developments which are planed within 1,000 feet of a freeway.
In a recent post on the Streetsblog New York site Brad Aaron reported on the link with traffic and air quality in a story titled "NYC Health Department: Traffic Is Poisoning Our Air". In that article the City of New York's Department of Public Health reported that:
People in areas with higher traffic densities are subjected to higher levels of particulates (27 percent greater), elemental carbon (45 percent greater), and nitrogen dioxide (37 percent greater) than those in areas with less traffic. In addition to triggering allergies and other illnesses that lead to more hospitalizations and work absences, exposure to these toxins has been linked to heart diseases, lung diseases, and cancer.
The link between traffic and air quality can no longer be ignored. With additional services cuts to both MTA (San Francisco) and VTA (Santa Clara County,) more transit users will be forced onto the road making it even more difficult for cyclists. So as I look forward to a great 2010, wouldn't it be nice to have a little more bike news and a little less Roadshow.