Archive for the 'Cars' Category

Cars are a waste of space

January 9, 2008

Nothing more needs to be said. Click on the picture below:

Photo header reads: Amount of space required to transport the same number of passengers by car, bus or bicycle.
Photo courtesy of Juan Jose. Thanks to Tim for emailing me this picture.

A War on Cars

August 6, 2007

The New York Times recently ran an editorial outlining how Paris, France has aimed to cut car traffic within the city by 40% by 2020. Here’s some of their tactics, some of which should be considered by Richmond in our effort to re-create our downtown:

Improve transit:

Increase and improve routes
Make transit cheaper
Make transit easier to [...]

“Richmond is a sleep city”: Chinese impressions of Richmond

August 2, 2007

The TD ran a story today on Chinese students who are spending a month at VCU. The students are all keeping blogs, which are a rich mine for discovering others’ impressions of our city.
VCU has links to all their blogs, but as far as I can tell, there’s no aggregator- which means you have [...]

One-Way vs. Two-Way Streets: Let the Debate Begin

July 29, 2007

The recent design charrette has provided a little controversy for our city and for engaged bloggers. Should downtown convert its street grid from one-way to two-way streets? Divergent views are already emerging.
Explaining and defending the charrette’s recommendation of a two-way street conversion downtown is Buttermilk & Molasses. John’s post “THE DOWNTOWN PLAN: [...]

The Virginia Capital Bike/Pedestrian Trail: Now also for trucks!

June 21, 2007

VDOT and the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation are building a 55 mile bike & pedestrian trail linking Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Richmond - the current and former capitals of Virginia.
Parts of the trail are already open in James City County: see photos here.
Current discussions are ongoing regarding [...]

Bureaucracy vs. common sense

May 29, 2007

The Capital Region Airport Commission, which operates Richmond International Airport, has been leasing land it owns to Henrico Co. for use as a park-and-ride lot for use by bus and carpool commuters. The lease has been $1 per year since 1984, according to the TD.
The FAA, however, has a rule barring below-market leases. [...]

Another casualty of our addiction to cars

April 26, 2007

Apparently a new restaurant in Church Hill (25th and M) is being held hostage by our society’s addiction to cars. According to church hill people’s news, Que Pasa- a Cuban, S. American, and Puerto Rican restaurant all rolled into one- is simply awaiting a Certificate of Occupancy before it can open. The holdup? [...]

Will Richmond ever build bike lanes? or Do I have to keep risking my life everytime I bike? or How much longer can I make this title?

March 15, 2007

Will Richmond ever do this:

Photo: Separated Bike Lanes
Ever since my Tuesday post about how much I hate cars, I’ve been intrigued by this idea of complete streets that I discovered while researching for that post. The basic idea is that streets should be built for cars, pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. Revolutionary, eh? [...]

Get out of your damn cars!

March 13, 2007

“Henrico’s traffic planners figure that, as a general rule of thumb, the average residence produces the equivalent of 10 vehicular trips per day.”*

Photo: Traffic on I-64.
In the interest of full blogger disclosure, I’ll admit my bias up front: I hate cars - they cause pollution, fatness, and death. I’ve never understood people’s fascination [...]