How Sustainable is Your City’s Transportation Network? – StreetsBlog USA
By Kea Wilson
A top global transportation organization is laying out the essential metrics that all communities should track if they want to understand how sustainable they really are — and giving advocates a tool to see how well their neighborhoods stack up right now.
The Institute for Transportation Development and Policy recently unveiled a powerful new interactive "atlas" which allows anyone to see, at a glance, what percentage of area residents live near protected bike lanes, rapid transit, car-free places, and more, and how those numbers compare to cities around the world. In some regions, the tool is able to break down the data at the level of the municipality, neighborhood, and even the council district or ward, potentially revealing hidden inequities that advocates can pressure policymakers to fix.
When they do, the researchers say, the results can be powerful. Seattle, for instance, is one of a handful of major U.S. cities that tracks how many residents live near frequent transport — and as it's worked to improve that metric, the Institute says it's also become the only major U.S. city to experience an increase in bus ridership.
