Report: Austin traffic pales compared with that in Dallas, Houston

Among other changes, sidewalks in transit areas will now have a minimum width of 6 feet, 2 feet wider than current standards.

“The council unanimously approved changes in development codes intended to promote dense, urban-style development along the Metropolitan Transit Authority‘s Main Street rail line and five planned extensions. The pedestrian zone requirements and incentives were developed through more than three years of work by city officials, consultants, development experts and others.

…The measures take effect immediately.”

“As in the previous two posts, I focus on a mythical 240-mile-line between Houston and Dallas, which was chosen to avoid giving the impression that this back-of-the-envelope calculation represents a complete evaluation of any actual proposed route. (The Texas route will be certainly far less attractive than high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor, but it is not inherently less reasonable than the proposed high-speed rail routes across Missouri or between Dallas and Oklahoma City.)

High-speed Rail

How big is the reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions associated with switching from cars to rail?”