Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 14h

The longer your commute, the more likely you are to have insomnia.

Scientists Expose How Housing and Commutes Steal Sleep

City living’s hidden cost: long commutes and small homes are quietly stealing your sleep.

scitechdaily.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 20h

New @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social livestream today at 6p ET! Use the link below.

The recording will be available on podcast platforms later this week.

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 3d

New @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social livestream on Tues at 6p ET!

On the agenda:
🔹 USDOT yanks transit funding
🔹 Amish e-bikes (it's a thing!)
🔹 Why new US buses cost $$$

This will be the last livestream for a bit b/c @wesmars.bsky.social & I are heading abroad. Join us ⤵️, or listen later

Look Both Ways LIVE with David & Wes: Episode 7

YouTube video by Look Both Ways with David & Wes

www.youtube.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 1d

"Few microtransit evaluations found that programs substantially increased transit ridership."

doi.org/10.1016/j.ci...

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 1d

The @vox.com article that was the basis of my podcast interview ⤵️

A self-driving car traffic jam is coming for US cities

A century ago, cars remade America. Autonomous vehicles could do it again.

www.vox.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 1d

On @npr.org's Think podcast, I explained why ubiquitous robotaxis would create crushing gridlock:

"Human beings respond to an experience that gets better by doing more of it ... At scale, that means [you] have many, many more trips being taken by car on our roads and on our streets."

The bumps in the road facing self-driving cars - Think

Transportation expert David Zipper joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of autonomous vehicles.

think.kera.org

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 2d

Seems bad:

"Urban highways are associated with decreased social connectivity."

"This barrier effect [is] consistent with historical cases of highways that were built to purposefully disrupt or isolate Black neighborhoods."

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Reposted by David Zipper

Sam Bird 🏔️🍁🇨🇦 @sambir.bsky.social · 3d

The thing you notice in Yellowknife is that residents, whom, unlike most Canadians, have serious winters, predominantly drive normal CARS year-round. Capable & suitable.
In summer, they demonstrate that it's perfectly normal & practical to strap a 17' canoe to the roof a 14' car.

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d

You might think that the mayor of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's vast Northwest Territories, would be a fan of giant pickups.

Nope. He's disgusted by car bloat.

www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam...

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 3d

"Over half of the e-cargo bike mileage ridden during trials substituted for car use."

doi.org/10.1016/j.jc...

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 3d

A bit of good news #devilshairdryer

Bans on this landscaping tool continue to spread across the US. See where. — USA TODAY

Many cities and a few states are banning gas-powered leaf blowers due to pollution, noise and health risk concerns. They've gotten some unlikely help.

apple.news

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 3d

New @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social livestream on Tues at 6p ET!

On the agenda:
🔹 USDOT yanks transit funding
🔹 Amish e-bikes (it's a thing!)
🔹 Why new US buses cost $$$

This will be the last livestream for a bit b/c @wesmars.bsky.social & I are heading abroad. Join us ⤵️, or listen later

Look Both Ways LIVE with David & Wes: Episode 7

YouTube video by Look Both Ways with David & Wes

www.youtube.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 4d

Not mentioned in the story:
🔹 The biggest danger for scooter riders is cars
🔹 Unlike cars, scooters almost never kill another person walking/biking/scooting

As I said to someone complaining about "dangerous" scooters, "You get hit by a car, and I'll get hit by a scooter. Let's see who feels worse."

Are e-scooters a safety nightmare? A new study looks at the data.

Many cities have moved to ban or restrict electric scooter rentals. But a new study finds that e-scooters tend to be safer than e-bikes in European cities.

www.washingtonpost.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 4d

The Ontario premier either doesn't understand that speed cameras save lives, or he doesn't care.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 4d

A great way to keep kids safe: Place automatic traffic cameras near schools.

After cameras were installed in Toronto:
🔹 Share of vehicles speeding ⬇️ 45%
🔹 85th percentile speed ⬇️ 10.7 km/h

Droivers speeding the most were most likely to slow down.

injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/inju...

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d

Nothing to sell, but I do cohost a podcast where @wesmars.bsky.social and I wonk out on all kinds of transportation topics — including car car bloat.

Check it out: lookbothwayspod.podbean.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d

You might think that the mayor of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's vast Northwest Territories, would be a fan of giant pickups.

Nope. He's disgusted by car bloat.

www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam...

46 440 1.7K

Reposted by David Zipper

Look Both Ways with David & Wes @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social · 6d

A listener in Finland asks: Is Vision Zero a process or a goal?

@wesmars.bsky.social: It's both.
@davidzipper.bsky.social: No, it's entirely a process.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 6d

Note: A Montreal leader told me he convinced many car owners to support weight-based parking fees by explaining how the length of SUVs/pickups reduces street parking capacity.

Car bloat is bad for everyone – including other car owners!

Meet the Montreal Mayor Who Declared War on SUVs

Oversized vehicles are devouring street parking spaces in the Canadian city. So one borough’s mayor is fighting back with bigger fees for hefty trucks and SUVs.

www.bloomberg.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 6d

Zurich is the latest city to make parking more expensive for oversized cars like SUVs.

Cities including Paris and Montreal have taken similar steps to counteract car bloat.

Zürich will Parkgebühren erhöhen – SUV-Fahrer müssten deutlich mehr bezahlen

Zürich plant höhere Parkgebühren für schwere Autos in der Blauen Zone. Elektrofahrzeuge profitieren von vergünstigten Tarifen. Vorschlag geht an den Gemeinderat

www.watson.ch

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 7d

As a DC resident who cares deeply about reducing crashes, I would take a single block of dedicated bike lanes over the arrival of a new robotaxi company

Zoox chooses Washington, DC as its next autonomous vehicle testbed | TechCrunch

The Amazon-owned company will start by mapping public streets of the nation's capital before testing begins later this year.

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by David Zipper

Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle.bsky.social · 7d

For as much as some members of Congress say the D.C. government is dysfunctional and should be disbanded, it's worth noting that the D.C. government will open and operate normally tomorrow because elected officials can do stuff like, you know, pass annual budgets.

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Reposted by David Zipper

Look Both Ways with David & Wes @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social · 7d

Why has Mobility-as-a-Service flopped?

"There's no evidence I could find anywhere that these MaaS apps were changing how people travel or reducing driving. And I asked everyone, for years." [email protected]

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 7d

A few hundred robotaxis in a city are a fun novelty, but hundreds of thousands would bring urban life to a crashing halt.

From the latest episode of @lookbothwayspod.bsky.social

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 7d

Big transit systems should make it easier for low-income residents to qualify for free or reduced-price rides. Good suggestions here.

Progressives should focus on ideas like these, rather than trying to drop fares entirely (which would be fiscally irresponsible, among other problems).

Free and low-fare transit programs fail to reach many in need: report

More outreach programs and automatic enrollment could make these programs accessible to more people, says a report from the Regional Plan Association, a New York nonprofit.

www.smartcitiesdive.com

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Reposted by David Zipper

Streetfilms/Clarence Eckerson Jr. @streetfilms.bsky.social · 8d

Very exciting! The seminal 1980 documentary "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" by William H. "Holly" Whyte has been RESTORED and screening in NYC this week!

I wanted to honor his work and used his words in the companion book and produced this 11 years ago.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU2v...

William “Holly” Whyte in His Own Words, “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” (1980)

YouTube video by Streetfilms®

www.youtube.com

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 8d

New NBER paper on traffic noise:

🔹 Highway noise barriers increase adjecent property values by 6.8%
🔹 Traffic noise in the US imposes annual costs of $110 billion, largely in low-income/minority neighborhoods

www.nber.org/papers/w3429...

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