International perspective: Road safety, design, and alcohol consumption

A pair of international studies from Australia and the European Union examined roadway safety. A number of factors help explain why Australia’s traffic fatality rate is less than half of the U.S. rate. And strict blood alcohol content limits can reduce fatalities but must be coupled with supportive policies that reduce alcohol consumption overall.

To improve transit in U.S., improve regional coordination: Lessons from across the pond

Recent work out of Virginia Tech compares approaches in large metropolitan regions in Europe and the U.S., seeking to identify best practices for improving regional transit service. The case studies in the report provide insight into where transit in U.S. metropolitan areas may learn from the European examples and improve practice. Although the U.S. circumstances may differ from the European case studies in the particulars, lessons from the experience of building successful systems in Europe can help U.S. metro regions improve the usefulness of regional transit.