Podcast 02 - Urban truck & bus safety, too much free parking
Transportation researcher Alex Epstein shares his latest work improving safety around trucks and buses. We focus on education/training, visibility and equipment such as mirrors and side guards. Ask your city, transit agency or delivery company what they are doing to prevent fatalities.
Be sure to review what bicyclists can do to establish your presence and prevent collisions with trucks and buses (and cars). For more on safe bike driving listen to Critical Transit 39 with cycling instructor Keri Caffrey. Other links include the Livable Streets Alliance, MassBike, Boston Cyclists Union and Somerville Bicycle Committee (which Alex currently chairs).
Car parking has been in the news recently: specifically, too much free parking, though that's not how it's covered. We have so many cars that a new app lets drivers sell public parking spaces when they leave and Mayor Walsh isn't too happy about it. Meanwhile, free or cheap parking is the number one factor in choosing driving over other modes and the rest of us pay the very high costs of so many cars on our streets. If this sounds crazy to you -- how could there be too many parking spaces? -- see The High Cost of Free Parking.
We finish with an excellent listener feedback on Bridj and some of the Green Line issues discussed in the first episode.
Finally, a very happy birthday to the MBTA (pdf). It's 50 years old!
UPDATE: terrific perspective on the MBTA vision (or lack thereof) at this moment.
The Transit Matters Podcast is your biweekly source for transportation news, analysis, interviews and more. We focus on sustainable transportation planning, operations and policies in Boston and beyond, and we do it in the average commute time. Read more about the podcast and send us your questions, comments and ideas for topics or guests >> contact us.
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