Driving

Gas Guzzled to Differing Degrees in U.S. Cities

Cities are filled with gas-guzzlers, but some guzzle more than others. This infographic from Mint looks at which U.S. cities spend the most and least on gas.

July 28, 2011 - Mint

Cleanliness from a car

A few months ago, I was talking to a faculty colleague who lives in a part of Jacksonville even more sprawl-bound where I live, an area about a mile or so from the nearest bus stop and with a single-digit Walkscore.  He said Jacksonville was "safe and clean."  I was a little surprised: "clean" is one word I would never* use to describe Jacksonville.  When I walk down the sidewalks of San Jose Boulevard, I notice litter aplenty - and from what I know of Beach Boulevard (the grim commercial strip near my colleague's house) I doubt that it is much better.

June 30, 2011 - Michael Lewyn

Urban Development Shifts Reduce Driving

The patterns of urban development over the past few decades have pushed more and more people into cars by necessity. But as design priorities change, so are people's walking and driving habits.

June 17, 2011 - Sierra

In Manhattan, Shopping and Driving Don't Mix

The New York City Department of Transportation's yearly statistical smorgasbord adds a new tool: neighborhood travel profiles showing how people arrived in eight neighborhoods. In many of them, the number of drivers was in the single digits.

May 3, 2011 - Streetsblog

Driving Up, But Down Per Capita

New data from the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled are up to their highest level since 2007. But when population growth is factored in, those levels drop significantly.

March 9, 2011 - Brookings Institution

The Web of Walkability

Steve Mouzon visually documents his walkable day-to-day life, and all the places he can get to regularly on foot from his house.

November 2, 2010 - The Original Green

What Would it Take to Ditch Your Car?

A conversation series from the National Trust for Historic Preservation asks what it would take for people to ditch their cars and rely solely on walking, cycling and public transportation.

October 22, 2010 - Glass House Conversations

L.A. the Most Congested? Maybe Not

The Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report ranks the country's most congested cities, a list almost always topped by Los Angeles. But as Mark Vallianatos writes, the ranking misrepresents reality.

October 8, 2010 - Streetsblog

Transit, Not Traffic Reduction, Helps NYC Hit Greenhouse Gas Targets

Is New York City's green transportation revolution overhyped? It turns out that emissions from private cars actually increased between 2007 and 2009, and that almost none of the city's greenhouse gas reductions came from the transportation sector.

October 5, 2010 - Streetsblog

Transportation Research Helped Create Sprawl, New Report Says

We've been measuring traffic congestion all wrong, a new report shows, and that's been making more highways look like the solution to long commutes. They're not.

October 3, 2010 - Streetsblog

Sprawl and the Long Commute

Sprawl affects the length of commutes, according to a new study from CEOs for Cities. GOOD visualizes the data with this infographic.

October 1, 2010 - Good

Turning Cars into the Last Resort in San Francisco

As San Francisco update its strategic plan, the rhetoric in the boardroom is increasingly about reducing car traffic and use in the city.

September 24, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

Report Finds Driving Down, Roads In Good Condition

A new report from The Reason Foundation finds that the nation's roads and highways are in the best shape of the last 19 years. The authors contend that this fact is largely a result of fewer people driving due to the recession.

September 11, 2010 - The Reason Foundation

Hoboken's Innovative Car Sharing Program

Hoboken, New Jersey has instituted a new car sharing service -- one run by a rental car company that pays the city for the right to operate.

July 19, 2010 - The New York Times

A Driveable Future

An auto company has a new design competition to imagine a future city that is car-friendly.

June 25, 2010 - Scientific American

Does 'Grand Theft Auto' Make People Bad Drivers?

A new study says that videogames like Grand Theft Auto that encourage reckless driving may make it more likely that one would drive recklessly in the real world.

June 16, 2010 - The Christian Science Monitor

Americans Driving at 2005 Levels

Americans are driving fewer miles than they were a year ago, despite an improving economy. Some say the American demand for oil will be low throughout the rest of this year.

May 27, 2010 - USA Today

New Argument for Public Transit: Better for Texting?

In a recent piece in Wired, Clive Thompson suggests that the solution to the problem of texting while driving is not to stop texting, but to stop driving. The popularity of texting is a good reason to support public transit.

March 17, 2010 - Wired Magazine

Driving on the Rise in America

After more than two years of declines in American driving patterns, the amount of driving seems to be on the rise.

February 26, 2010 - USA Today

The New World of Roads in China

The New York Times reviews a new book about driving in China, and how the vastly expanding roadways are changing the Chinese way of life from the farms to the cities.

February 25, 2010 - The New York Times

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.