Rumor has it James Corner Field, the landscape architecture firm that designed the High Line in New York City, is designing Nicollet Mall. I’ve seen the plans for Nicollet Mall and offered opinions, but figured I needed to see the High Line for myself. My wife and I did just that on a recent trip to New […]
Caption: Vehicles diverging from the free-flow branch can sometimes follow a much more erratic time line, experiencing a wide and unpredictable range of different traffic states. This is the last of the chart triptych about the nonlinear dynamics of traffic congestion, again from Philip Ball’s popular science book Critical Mass. Here he’s using […]
In a recent blog post, MPR’s Hart Van Denburg shared a video showing a Green Line route in it’s entirety. He also felt the need to mention the time it has been taking in test runs to ride the route from end to end. There is no need to speculate as to whether he personally was being […]
A while back I mentioned how I’ve become something of a Speck-olyte. Permit me to explain. After reading Jeff Speck’s Walkable City a while ago, I took a Christmas gift card to Barnes and Noble and bought two extra copies to hand out to people. I love the book, and you’ll find no better short, […]
Part I – Promote Vehicular Cycling. Really? Part II – Who Wants Vehicular Cycling? National Bike Challenge Update: Fledgling team streets.mn is in 59th place in MN, MNDOT is 61st and BikeMN is in 32nd. Team streets.mn is open to all. More info here. Terminology: Given some comments two weeks ago, I thought a quick […]
This chart is basically a re-drawing of the one that I put up last week, depicting flow rate vs. density for a traffic jam. The difference here is that it depicts a non-linear time sequence, showing how traffic flow increases, destabilizes, and then falls into a separate “congested” regime with lower flow rates. Coincidentally, it […]
Something I always encounter when reading about development in the suburbs are phrases like “we have a small-town feel”. The problem is most suburbs are far from being like small towns. Even suburbs that used to be small towns are usually sprawled out (i.e. Forest Lake) to the point they really lose the charm of […]
“[If such drivers have no faster alternative route], Those are the people who I would encourage to change jobs or change houses” and “The City of Edina needs to build some arterials.” – Mn/DOT Ramp Meter Chief Engineer (November 28, 1999 Minneapolis Star Tribune) Ramp meters, traffic signals posted on freeway entrance ramps, seek […]
It was a comparatively light week here on streets.mn for this summery Summary, but here’s what matters this week: Practical matters: MOVE BACK: A Casual Guide to Regular Bus Usage is one of those posts which might seem too obvious to be written by the folks who already know how to ride the bus, but very […]