Driving

How the City of Tacoma uses planting strips along its streets tells a tale of haves and have-nots, and of our differing standards. The City has gone out of its way to exclude homeless people from this space with $163,000 worth of boulders.

Ray Delahanty of CityNerd illuminates how traffic models work to reinforce bad assumptions and create inaccurate modeling that supercharges highway expansion. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy that keep the U.S. trapped in a car-centric world, rather than investing in a greener future with more mobility options.

Bothell becomes the first city in either King or Snohomish County to fully eliminate off-street parking mandates in order to reduce costs for homebuilding. The move clearly solidifies the city as a leader on housing and land use reform.

Rollie Williams of Climate Town dives into the long history of how road congestion pricing came to be and why it provides so many social, economic, and environmental upsides for the New York region.

A June 15th hit-and-run crash on Lake Washington Boulevard during a Bicycle Weekend makes the case for expanding the event and improving safety features on the boulevard. The reticence of police to investigate hit-and-run collisions may also be contributing to a culture of motorist impunity.

Safe Eastside, a group with a long track record of attacking facilities for people exiting homelessness, is turning its attention to major pieces of state housing reform approved in 2025. They have until July 26 to collect more than 150,000 signatures to get a repeal referendum on the ballot in Washington state.

Despite heavy attention on challenges funding transportation at the state level, shortfalls are projected to hit transit agencies and city transportation networks hardest. With few tools available to raise progressive transportation revenue at the local level, the future looks bleak without reform.

The preferred concept for an I-90 bridge in Central Issaquah would cost at least $110 million, and is seen as an essential component of creating a more connected neighborhood around a future light rail station. Councilmembers are wary about jumping in with both feet.