Katy B. Olson
Katy B. Olson's Latest Posts

How protected bike lanes can combat discrimination
A new report from PeopleForBikes and Alliance for Biking & Walking has yielded some fascinating insights about cycling. “Building Equity: Race, ethnicity, class, and protected bike lanes: An idea book for fairer cities,” focuses on how transportation can be a great equalizer through the use of protected bike lanes. The report draws on the a […]

7 tips for effective road safety campaigns
Is there a science behind an effective traffic safety campaign? Not necessarily, but science does have something to say about why campaigns succeed or fail. A new study, “Persuasive appeals in road safety communication campaigns: Theoretical frameworks and practical implications from the analysis of a decade of road safety campaign materials,” offers significant guidance for how […]

How to make electric vehicles cost-effective
Battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, have the potential to play a huge role in decarbonizing transportation, but the economics still have to be worked out – consumers need strong reasons to purchase BEVs, since their range is lower than gas-powered vehicles. A recent study, What is needed for battery electric vehicles to become socially cost […]

Walkable neighborhoods necessary, not sufficient for active transport
Can making a neighborhood more walkable change residents’ habits in socioeconomically depressed areas? Possibly, but there are a number of factors that stop that from happening, says a new study by researchers Madeleine Steinmetz-Wood and Yan Kestens, Does the effect of walkable built environments vary by neighborhood socioeconomic status?. The study finds that other factors […]

How much money do road diets save?
Can road diets do more than promote safety and save space for pedestrians — can they also save cash? Turning a four-lane undivided road into three lanes, and then converting the fourth lane into bike lanes, sidewalks, on-street parking, or a combination is widely thought to benefit the primary users of the extra space, but […]

Despite awareness of risks, 91% of teens text while driving
Three of young drivers’ riskiest driving behaviors have come under scrutiny in two recent studies, chronicled in “Prevalence of texting while driving and other risky driving behaviors among young people in Ontario, Canada,” by researchers Sean Tucker, Simon Pek, Jayne Morrish and Megan Ruf. The two studies reported on how prevalent texting while driving is — […]

Q&A: INRIX’s ParkMe acquisition
Real-time traffic data company INRIX just announced its acquisition of ParkMe, one of the biggest databases of parking in the U.S. While ParkMe and Inrix have been working together for three years (ParkMe is the powerhouse behind INRIX’s Off-Street Parking app), now, ParkMe will deliver up-to-date information on tens of millions of spaces in nearly 2,000 […]

Fixing Ohio State’s absurd gameday parking fees
Ohio State University football fans are being asked to donate thousands of dollars if they want to be granted the privilege of buying a parking pass. The donation, ranging from $3,000 to $5,000, is in addition to the $375 parking fee, reports the Dayton Daily News. The donation requirement has actually been on the books […]

Study links walkability with higher property values, longer lives, lower crime
Better health is just the beginning of walking’s benefits. Walking can also improve neighborhoods, raise housing values and even reduce crime. A recent study, “Does walkability matter? An examination of walkability’s impact on housing values, foreclosures and crime,” from John I. Gilderbloom, William W. Riggs and Wesley L. Meares, examined the link between sustainability and […]

How wireless technology makes your car hackable
Car manufacturers are loading up new cars with many technologies that drivers don’t want or use… and these add-ons could render the cars potentially more hackable. As a J.D. Power survey reports, 20 percent of new vehicle-owners surveyed were not using their vehicles’ interactive features, among them, the in-vehicle concierge, the 3G or 4G router, […]

Why drivers have anti-cyclist attitudes
Interaction between cyclists and motorists is one of the top causes of biking incidents. In the recently released study “Car driver attitudes, perceptions of social norms and aggressive driving behaviour towards cyclists,” researchers Laura S. Fruhen and Rhona Flin investigate the causes behind drivers’ often aggressively anti-cyclist attitudes. Despite the many benefits of cycling, the researchers […]