Monthly Archives: August 2013

by | August 10, 2013 · 5:23 pm

My Transportation Diary — Your Contribution To Curbing Cars

Send us your contributions to My Transportation Diary

Send us your contributions to My Transportation Diary

By Claudia Payne

Curbing Cars has made its Kickstarter goal. Now it’s time to get to work and we want your help with a new feature we’re calling My Transportation Diary.

Would you share with us your stories of how you get around this coming week?

What transportation choices were available to you? What combination could you choose from (car, bus, taxi, bike share, hourly rental, etc)? How did you make use of them and how did they work out?

And how did you feel about it all?

At Curbing Cars, we’ve been compiling data on the rapidly expanding networking of sharing programs, for bikes, rides and cars. In some places, public transportation has adapted. In others, it’s a weak link.

With the help of such innovations as deft new apps and collapsible bicycles, we know that people are customizing their strategies. You’re no longer just tied to a car, or limited to taking the subway. Transportation has become a portfolio. Continue reading →

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by | August 8, 2013 · 6:43 pm

She’s The Best In The West — And Now Part Of Curbing Cars

Respected journalism educator Donica Mensing has joined the Curbing Cars advisory board.

Respected journalism educator Donica Mensing has joined the Curbing Cars advisory board.

By Micheline Maynard

Journalism students at the University of Nevada, Reno, agree on one thing: they all respect and admire Donica Mensing.

She’s a savvy educator who figured out the importance of multi-media early in her academic career. She’s led scores of students to achieve terrific things on campus, and to standout professional careers.

And now, she’s part of the Curbing Cars journalism project. Donica is joining the Curbing Cars advisory board, which also includes Claudia Payne, a 30-year veteran of the New York Times.

(You have until Monday to support our Kickstarter. Click here.)

Donica will help us track trends, strategize our crowd sourcing, and incorporate student voices into Curbing Cars. She’ll be a wonderful help as we set down the journalism standards that our project will follow.

Here’s why Donica decided to join us.

“Curbing Cars represents an ongoing story unfolding at a local, regional, national and international scale,” she says “Its potential as an Ebook, as well as a continuing project illustrates the best type of in-depth journalism, incorporating careful analysis on a topic of great significance, intuitive data visualizations and interactivity.” Continue reading →

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by | August 6, 2013 · 12:09 am

From The New York Times To Curbing Cars: Our New Teammate

By Micheline Maynard

Claudia Payne, a veteran editor at The New York Times, is joining Curbing Cars.

Claudia Payne, a veteran editor at The New York Times, is joining Curbing Cars.

Claudia Payne, a veteran journalist with more than 30 years experience at The New York Times, is joining the Curbing Cars journalism project. Claudia will serve as senior editor and become the first member of the Curbing Cars advisory board. We hope to announce more board members soon.

Rick Meier and I expect that Claudia will help in many ways, leading our brainstorming sessions, providing an editor’s skilled input, helping us find story ideas and essentially providing the kind of critical help that every journalist values.

Claudia has a great reputation as an entrepreneurial journalist. She was part of the team that produced the Times‘ series on global terrorism, which won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2002.

She also created special recurring sections for the emerging subjects of personal technology, the new wealth and philanthropy, and energy. Working together, she and I developed the Business Travel section and produced the annual Cars section.

(It was this story that I wrote for Claudia that inspired the Curbing Cars project, so you could say we owe it all to her!) Continue reading →

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by | August 4, 2013 · 11:19 am

10 Big Transportation Ideas: Why Teens Are Driving Less

My nephew, Parker J. Maynard, a 2013 graduate of Novi High School in Michigan.

My nephew, Parker J. Maynard, a 2013 graduate of Novi High School in Michigan.

By Micheline Maynard

I got my license the fall that I turned 16. I took driver’s ed from my high school during the summer, practiced a bit with my family, and then went down for my driving test. Voila! I was licensed to drive.

That was back in the 20th century, and getting a license isn’t that easy for many teens. For one thing, schools are by and large out of the driver’s ed business. And, many teens aren’t motivated to get their licenses, at least not the moment they are eligible. That’s one of the 10 big ideas we’re exploring at Curbing Cars. (See our previous story here.)

The latest statistics show that only 28 percent of 16-year-olds have their licenses. That’s down from 46 percent in 1983, according to federal state and an analysis by the University of Michigan.

The numbers go up after high school graduation. About 70 percent of 19-year-olds have their licenses. But that’s still down from 87 percent in 1983.

This is a factor in why driving is down for the overall population, one of the major issues we are studying at Curbing Cars.

Continue reading →

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