There has been a concerning rise in COVID-19 cases in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties in the past week. Westmoreland county has had more new cases per capita over the last 14 days than Allegheny, and their case numbers are growing more rapidly. Allegheny Health Department Directory Debra Bogen gave a press conference about it today.
Signal Priority for Transit is the Best Investment
Imagine going to a restaurant with a large group of 40 people, and you are all seated at the same table. The restaurant serves their food family style, but you’re surprised to see that your server provides your table only a serving suitable for one person, like the adjacent tables of individual patrons dining alone
Governor Wolf Should Improve his Reopening Plan
Governor Wolf has recently issued a plan for reopening the state, improving testing, and performing contact tracing. His plan could use improvement. Tomas Pueyo published an excellent article on how to do testing and contact tracing. The article is based on international best practices and a scientific understanding of how COVID-19 spreads. A large part
Analysis of First PA Counties to Reopen
Today, Governor Wolf announced the first 24 counties to partially reopen. The decision was informed by the results of a Carnegie Mellon Risk Based Decision Tool. A map of the reopening counties is provided in this Pennlive article. The 24 counties are listed below, along with their population, total cases over the 14 days of
Is Density Spreading COVID-19 in Pennsylvania?
With social distancing guidelines emphasizing maintaining physical space between people, and reading accounts of New York City, it may seem like COVID-19 is more prevalent in areas of high density. This Pennlive article goes so far as to suggest urban residential patterns spread of the virus: "There is no question that people in more densely
Pittsburgh needs Lower Speed Limits on Narrow Streets
The street I live on is a two way street with one parking lane, and it is only 22 ft wide. It is common on many other streets for driving lanes to be 12 ft wide, and parking lanes to be 7 ft wide, which would result in a 31 ft wide street. My
How to Cost Effectively Improve Pittsburgh’s Passenger Rail Service
In 2015, the Post Gazette ran an article with some shocking figures. It reported that spending $1.5 billion on track improvements between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg would save less than 10 minutes each way on the 5.5 hour trip. The figures were based on a study documented in the Keystone West High Speed Rail Study. The
County Council Should Vote Down Proposed Deed Transfer Fee
County Council is scheduled to vote on April 7, 2020 on implementing a $15 fee on all new or transferred mortgage or deed recording transactions to fund the demolition of blighted properties. While demolition of blighted properties is a good idea that is worth public funding, a deed transfer fee is a terrible way to
I Never Thought I Would Write This…But a Private Car May be Safer than Transit for the Next Few Weeks
People are panicking about the COVID-19 outbreak. I have read several posts on social media urging people to drive and avoid transit to reduce the spread of the disease. As of March 20, it has killed 229 people in the United States over the course of the entire outbreak so far. In comparison, car crashes
Traffic Calming should be Implemented on Low Volume Streets
In the summer of 2019, several residents of our street expressed interest in adding speed humps to improve safety. Our street has over 20 children living on it, and studies have shown that speed humps reduce the likelihood by over 50% that children living on a street will be injured or killed by being hit