William (Billy) Riggs is a global export in transportation innovation, urban development and the future of cities. His book, End of the Road: Reimagining the Street as the Heart of the City is now available from Bristol University Press, Amazon and many other retailers worldwide.
End of the Road offers a unique look at how streets can evolve. Using many examples, it challenges readers to focus on how the power of streets can be harnessed to support the economic, social, cultural and natural aspects of cities–how streets can be dynamic spaces for walking, biking and living; stimulating urban vitality and community regeneration.
Over the past half century, many of our streets have been transformed into vehicle sewers, built and rebuilt around the sole criteria of moving cars and trucks as quickly as possible. This useful book reminds us that streets are for more than just motion: they are the primary social space of our communities, and their design contributes markedly to the growth or decline of our society.
Jeff Speck, city planner and author, Walkable City
A necessary look at evolving the concept of the city street in search of something that serves humanity, and the individual, better.
Alisyn Malek, Coalition for Reimagined Mobility
When and how does a road for cars become a street for people? This timely and incisive book moves beyond technical jargon helping us (re)imagine streets as economic, social, cultural and natural places.
Julian Agyeman, professor Tufts University & author of Sharing Cities: A Case for Smart and Sustainable Cities
Streets are the lifelines of our communities and our societies. In William Riggs’ telling, we made a big mistake handing over this critical piece of social infrastructure for moving and storing cars. It’s now time to retake such valuable space not just for walking and biking, but for dining, shopping, living and working, making them part of more vibrant and livable communities.
Richard Florida, University of Toronto, author of The Rise of the Creative Class