Atlanta's new railway loop proposal may yet survive the usual onslaught of bureaucracy and red tape.
"[Atlanta's] Beltline proposal, a plan to build a trolley, light rail, fancy bus, or some other kind of transit system on a 22-mile loop of rarely used train tracks that circle the city, is one of the few transit projects leaving the realm of the pipe dream." Developers are heavily supporting the project, eager to profit from expanded access to relatively remote industrial sites around the city. To pay for the system, local officials want "to create a localized district that taxes itself, called a Tax Allocation District." The idea for the loop actually came from then-graduate planning student Ryan Gravel, who envisioned the scheme in his master's thesis. "Within three years, the Beltline proposal had made it onto the...Georgia Regional Transportation Authority's lists of transportation projects that may one day get built." Many of the setbacks in the approval process "are a result of war between the build-more-roads advocates who claim the high cost of rail rarely justify the expenditures, and the city planning wonks who envision a world where commuters don't own cars." Can the loop idea survive?
Thanks to David Gest
FULL STORY: This is no loopy loop

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

The French Solution to Congested Tunnels: Make Them Car-Free
Bay Area transportation officials keep expanding car capacity. Lyon’s Croix Rousse Tunnel offers a different way.

Missouri Governor Reverses Anti-Discrimination Housing Policies
A new state law bars cities from prohibiting source-of-income discrimination against tenants using Section 8 housing vouchers.

USDOT Launches Unfunded 'SAFE ROADS' Program
The program targets “distractions” and “political messages or artwork,” and paves the way for autonomous vehicles.
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.
City of Fort Worth
planning NEXT
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie