During the 17 days of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver significantly beefed up its transit offerings and reduced lanes for automobiles. Did the experiment work, and what would happen if these temporary changes were made permanent?
During the Games, road capacity was cut in half downtown and 20% throughout the city.
John Calimente writes, "Remarkably, with an average daily ridership of 1.6 million over the 17-day event, Vancouver temporarily had the third-highest transit usage in North America behind only New York and Mexico City. While this is an amazing accomplishment, it is also staggering to think that much, much larger cities in U.S. have such low transit ridership."
FULL STORY: Vancouver Becomes a Transit City for 17 Days

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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