Europe

Madrid Pedestrian Street

Car Ban in Madrid Boosted Retail Sales, Study Shows

An analysis of retail data suggests that vehicle restrictions in the city center led to more sales and less emissions.

March 16, 2019 - Forbes

Electric Charging Stations

U.S. Risks Becoming Backwater for Electric Vehicle Sales

Auto analyst John Voelcker discusses the electric vehicle market in the U.S. on NPR. Ominous clouds belie the excellent sales figures for last year, and policies pushed by Trump only ensure that motor vehicles will continue to gulp more gasoline.

March 11, 2019 - NPR

Radar Speed Sign

Intelligent Speed Assistance Takes First Steps Toward Broad Adoption in Europe

Car manufacturers are expected to strongly opposed regulations that would require speed limiting technology in all new cars.

March 5, 2019 - Forbes

East Berlin

Berlin Plans Massive Investment in Rail

A new Transit Master Plan will spend approximately €2 billion a year on tram, rail, and bus improvements.

March 4, 2019 - CityLab

Luxembourg Bus

What’s Behind the Free Transit Coming to Luxembourg

All of the country’s buses, trains, and trams will be free starting next year in a move to help residents struggling with the cost of living.

February 6, 2019 - BBC

Germany Bahn

German Trains Running Late

A quarter of German long-distance trains ran behind schedule, and they're not likely to improve soon.

February 1, 2019 - The Economist

Electric Vehicles

Road Tolls Considered to Replace Declining Fuel Tax Revenues as EV Sales Grow

Iceland is thinking ahead when it comes to revenue losses resulting from its newly adopted "Climate Strategy" that calls for ending petrol-powered, fuel tax-paying motor vehicles by 2030. Widespread electronic road tolls are being considered.

January 30, 2019 - Iceland Review

Munich Train

Scarf Depicting Rail Delays Sells for $8,650

A German rail commuter recorded each day’s travel by knitting a scarf.

January 28, 2019 - The New York Times

Oslo Street

What Happens When a Downtown Becomes Nearly Car-Free?

"Parking spots are now bike lanes, transit is fast and easy, and the streets (and local businesses) are full of people."

January 28, 2019 - Fast Company

Proterra Electric Bus

Battery-Electric Buses Might Not Be Quite Ready for Prime Time

Companies are marketing battery-electric buses as the transit vehicles of the future, but there is still much room for improvement.

January 22, 2019 - CityLab

Dutch Fyra Train

The Netherlands Seeks Less Confrontational Strategies to Stop Fare Evasion

Rather than simply being punitive, the Dutch rail carrier is trying to find cost effective ways to collect fares and make riders feel welcome.

January 18, 2019 - CityLab

Tesla

Banner Year for Electric Vehicle Sales

U.S. sales of plug-in electric vehicles, including those with internal combustion engines, increased by 81 percent in 2018 over 2017. But if you remove the best-selling Tesla Model 3 from the mix, the increase drops to 11 percent.

January 16, 2019 - Greentech Media

Carbon Tax

Progressive Carbon Pricing Policy Should Address Social Equity

Putting a price on carbon emissions is widely viewed as an effective tool to reduce emissions. It can also be applied to help those who stand to lose the most from climate change, thus enabling a socially just transition to a low carbon economy.

January 15, 2019 - World Resources Institute

corn field in polk county iowa

Friday Eye Candy: 300 Years of Land Use Transformation

The history of the earth since 1700 has been a history of human land use.

January 11, 2019 - CityLab

Macron Protest

Learning the Wrong Lessons From France's Yellow Vest Movement

The widespread Yellow Vests protests, which initially involved hundreds of thousands of protestors in November, are wrongly being interpreted as a movement against carbon taxes and climate action, rather than a revolt against social inequities.

January 3, 2019 - World Resources Institute

Electric Cars

Electric Vehicle Incentives: A Tale of Two Countries

While Trump wants to end the EV credit program, in part to punish GM for closing unprofitable car manufacturing plants, Norway is scaling back the generous perks that have enabled EV sales to comprise almost half on new auto sales.

December 30, 2018 - CityLab

Smog

App Provides Real-Time Air Quality Data for Paris

Paris has made some incredibly ambitious and highly controversial policy changes to improve the city's air quality. In the meantime, there's a new app from Valeo to determine the state of the air quality in the city.

December 28, 2018 - CleanTechnica

Oslo Street

In Oslo, Streets for People, Not Cars

New measures will greatly reduce vehicle traffic in the city center as Oslo moves to put pedestrians, cyclists, and air quality before cars.

December 25, 2018 - The New York Times

Copenhagen Street

These Streets Were Made for Walking

Many streets and cities are designed for vehicles instead of for pedestrians. But policies and programs in cities around the world, and even in the United States, might be signaling a shift in priorities.

December 21, 2018 - The New York Times

Dundee, Scotland

The Best Architecture of 2018 (From the Other Side of the Atlantic)

The Guardian's list of architecture's best in 2018.

December 20, 2018 - The Guardian

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.