Road Guy Rob's Transportation News

Highway construction of the 1950s were a collision of value engineering, latent racism, and big government.  Bulldozers loomed over families living on Almond Street who weren't given any say.  A look at New York state's once-in-a-century opportunity to transform downtown Syracuse.

How a centuries-old Native American legend collided with Georgia's ambition to become the "Roundabout Capital of America."  Roads travel millions of miles, and the pavement will inevitably impact sensitive places.  Clever engineers north of Atlanta are using a roundabout to preserve history and improve traffic.

 Amazon, GrubHub, and others are eager to roll unmanned deliveries through your neighborhood.  What sorts of problems will driver-less autonomous vehicles (AVs) cause you?  California's DMV are writing rules for the Domino's robots to earn a driver license.   

For the past few years, Oregon has been running a pilot program which (unintentionally) billed "green" car drivers while cutting fat refund checks for gas guzzlers.  How the state is working to fix this problem, while also shaping the way you'll pay road taxes in the future.

You are three times more likely to die pedaling around the Sunshine State than the national average.  There are four big mistakes we make in cities which kill bicycle riders.

An industry group with deep Bay Area roots is pushing public officials to bond $100-billion dollars.  If voters were to approve (possibly on the 2020 ballot), it would build LOTS of new transportation infrastructure across 9 counties.  Would it work?  What would get built?  It may be worth asking Los Angeles and Seattle.

If lawmakers in Hartford lower the state gas taxes by 5 cents, you'd better load some money on your E-Z Pass. New York considers banning "distracted walking." Teenagers may soon qualify for CDL licenses. America's longest pedestrian bridge just opened, and it's not where you'd imagine it is.

Why the annual charge would bump from $17 per year to $1,000, simply to get that license plate sticker.  Tampa transportation officials are considering demolition of I-275.  Research has finally answered the question: Do ride-sharing services (Uber and Lyft) help or hurt congestion in big cities?

It may get easier for trucks to get in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles (San Pedro) and Long Beach, and the reason why has executives very concerned.  Congress and the White House come one step closer toward a $2,000,000,000,000 infrastructure package (yes, that's the correct number of zeros).

Omaha is less than 12 months away from its first "rapid transit" line.  Minnesota DOT figured out exactly how much money they saved by letting the public volunteer to pick up trash.  The joint-venture of government and private industry (P3s) has primarily built tolls roads, yet zero were built in 2018.