Current Stories
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Vancouver choosing density over open space
Vancouver Sun
11/19/2009
Vancouver, BC, is opting for denser communities at the expense of open public spaces in its bid to become the world's greenest city by 2020.
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Vancouver endorses plan light on parks
Vancouver Sun
11/18/2009
Vancouver's city council has unanimously endorsed a plan to create a high-density neighbourhood with a civic plaza, residential and office space on the final undeveloped section of the former Expo lands. What it doesn't include is the 2.75 acres of park space per 1,000 people that city council holds as a goal.
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Paying more for flights eases guilt, not emissions
New York Times
11/17/2009
One of the first travel companies to offer airline customers the option of buying so-called carbon offsets to counter theit planet-warming emissions has canceled the program. While it might help travelers feel virtuous, the offsets were not helping to reduce global emissions and might even encourage people to travel more.
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520 plan would add second Montlake drawbridge
KPLU
11/17/2009
There's a potential milestone in the decades-long search for a replacement for the SR-520 bridge over Lake Washington, but a coalition of Seattle neighborhoods is vowing to torpedo it. A proposal approved Tuesday calls for widening the freeway and adding a second drawbridge in Montlake.
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Failing septic systems vs. OR planning laws
Ashland Daily Tidings
11/17/2009
A smelly and potentially dangerous problem with failing septic systems in Jackson County, OR, soon could be resolved for up to 1,603 rural property owners, with a blanket exception to state planning goals that make it difficult to provide sewer service outside urban areas.
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New light-rail plan avoids Bellevue downtown core
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
11/17/2009
Newly-elected Bellevue City Council member Kevin Wallace has released plans for a light-rail route that would utilize the BNSF rail corridor and keep trains out of the city's central business district.
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Where can I juice up my ride?
Washington Post
11/18/2009
As their manufacturers see it, the electric cars entering U.S. showrooms as early as next year will be engineering marvels: stylish, battery-operated, zero-emission wonders. Yet for all their technological prowess, there's one practical question that unsettles the green dreamers and entrepreneurs alike: Where, oh, where, can you plug them in?
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Boise company's solar charger may save gas
Boise Idaho Statesman
11/17/2009
Treasure Valley Solar is marketing a way to keep electronic devices revved up in the car without turning on the engine.
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San Francisco cyclists get techie
San Francisco Chronicle
11/17/2009
If you see bicyclists wobbling through the city streets with an iPhone in hand, don't assume they're playing Bejeweled or IMing their virtual pals while they pedal.
They may be using Cycle Tracks, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority's new - and first - application for the Apple iPhone.
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Seattle's other mega-project: 520 bridge
KPLU
11/17/2009
A replacement for downtown Seattle's viaduct has been getting a lot of attention - but there's an equally challenging state highway project that crosses Lake Washington. The question is how to replace the aging Route-520 bridge. A committee is supposed to vote today on which option to recommend to the legislature.
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Preparing Oregon for earthquakes
Oregonian
11/17/2009
Using information gained from an April simulation of quakes ranging up to 9.0 magnitude, engineers can now prioritize which of the 2,671 bridges in the state highway system should get seismic upgrades. That's a $3 billion job, Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Dave Thompson said.
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To serve (food) and protect (the soil)
Missoulian
11/15/2009
The call for local food is loud and growing. At the same time in Missoula, some of the land that produces those vegetables, that meat, is more valuable once it's been developed. Now three local forces are at work on that problem that's led to the incremental loss of agricultural lands.
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Riding out the recession
Spokesman Review
11/15/2009
It wasn't long ago that the Spokane Transit Authority was riding high, but the worst economic recession in generations has brought a new reality. Cuts in service are likely over the next several years, though some urge the agency to look beyond the recession and get ready for conversion to a "green" economy.
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Views: No such thing as free parking
Salem Statesman Journal
11/16/2009
Parking vexes more people than practically any other common issue. That's true around schools, businesses, neighborhoods and downtowns, evidenced by dozens of readers who weighed in on whehter Salem, OR should install parking meters downtown.
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Views: Time for honesty after pedestrian accident
Portland Oregonian
11/15/2009
A small crowd gathered at the Portland midblock crosswalk where a car struck two women on Nov. 1, killing one and hospitalizing the other. But in many ways, it turned into a protest against cars. No one - not one voice - was talking about a pedestrian’s responsibilities. And that’s too bad.
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Traffic safety work honored
Ashland Daily Tidings
11/15/2009
Bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers can get around more safely in Ashland because of the work being done behind the scenes.
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Fight over Portland trail has larger repercussions
Oregonian
11/15/2009
Southwest Portland's "walking trails" mostly follow paved streets and sidewalks. But the off-road sections include utility easements that dip between homes. There's an ongoing controversy over who's responsible for maintenance and liability of these trails: homeowners or the city.
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Proposal for smaller, cheaper I-5 Columbia bridge
Vancouver Columbian
11/12/2009
Transportation planners are proposing to trim about $650 million from the proposed Columbia River Crossing, including narrowing the new Interstate 5 bridge from 12 lanes to 10.
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Pedestrians, bicyclists want harsher penalties
Real Change
11/13/2009
When one person's actions kill another, even if unintentionally, the public generally expects serious consequences. In Washington, however, when a driver hits and seriously injures or kills a pedestrian or bicyclist, he or she can expect only a traffic ticket.
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Fun theory: One way to woo commuters
Portland Oregonian
11/12/2009
As Portland transportation officials try to figure out how to get more people out of their cars, they might want to take a gander at this social-experiment video from the Odenplan in Stockholm. The message: A sure fire way to change transportation behavior is to make the infrastructure as much fun as functional.
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Vancouver, BC, crafting growth strategy
Georgia Straight
11/12/2009
Metro Vancouver, BC, staff have made adjustments to a draft regional-growth strategy that will guide land-use policies in the region until 2040, and focuses on employment and population growth in urban centers.
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New idea for slightly smaller I-5 bridge
Oregonian
11/12/2009
The Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River would shrink from 12 to 10 lanes and that, along with other changes, could save up to a net of $650 million, project officials said Thursday.
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Going all the way on a bus
Portland Mercury
11/11/2009
Though Portland is applauded for its groundbreaking light rail system and heralded for bike riding, more Portlanders ride buses on an average weekday than those two modes of transit combined. So the Portland Mercury rides the city's most popular bus lines from start to finish and tells the tales.
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Portlanders find housing cheaper, love their cars
Oregonian
11/12/2009
Portland residents feel better about city government and general livability, although some areas -- such as street maintenance -- remain a sore point, according to a citywide survey.
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Poll: Vancouver is Canada's most liveable city
Vancouver Sun
11/11/2009
A new poll ranked Vancouver as Canada's most liveable city, with sixty-five per cent of residents agreeing that their city is on the path toward long-term livability. But the poll did not address housing affordability or property taxes, and 69 percent of Vancouverites said transportation is a major challenge facing the region.
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