By encouraging more people to cycle, bike-sharing platforms could provide many potential benefits through reduced congestion, reduced air pollution, and health benefits. But there are also challenges, including pressures on existing cycling infrastructure and the potential for theft and vandalism.
Seattle is considering following in the footsteps of London, Stockholm, Singapore, and Milan to introduce a charge for driving on the city's roads. What can Seattle and its residents learn from other cities that have implemented road user charging?
Autonomous vehicle technology is already here: Cars park themselves, alert drivers to impending dangers, and even apply the brakes in emergencies. But what will it take to unlock its potential for major societal benefits?
According to consumer research, the ability to consume media, write an email, or even sleep during transport is a key selling point for autonomous vehicles (self-driving cars), which could be widely available in the fairly near future. Autonomous vehicle technology could also produce a wide range of public benefits.
The first HOT lanes in L.A. have improved traffic flow and travel time reliability, are fair to users of the facilities, have improved transit service and have generated revenue needed to fund those improvements from voluntary toll payments.
The promise of autonomous vehicles is finally near to being realized and the substantial benefits to society in terms of safety, mobility, and fuel economy cannot be ignored. It is not too early for policy makers to begin to think about the challenges that lie ahead.
Rather than threatening that the closure will be a mess, messages appealing to citizens' public spirit that Los Angeles can pull together again to make the closure go smoothly are more likely to resonate because they are consistent with past experience, write Martin Wachs and Brian D. Taylor.
While traffic congestion plagues many cities, Los Angeles stands apart, routinely ranking first for both total and per-capita congestion delay, with an estimate annual cost at close to $10 billion, writes Paul Sorensen.
