Here in San Diego, public transportation is on life support. Despite record ridership, trolley and bus service has been reduced, with some bus routes cancelled altogether. Fares are up across the board. The monthly light rail pass will be $72; three years ago it was $60.
Freeways
Freeway Runs Directly Through Office Tower
WebUrbanist tells the curious story of the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan. Property rights battles between the owners and transportation planners resulted in a high-rise tower with a freeway running through the 5th floor.
WebUrbanist
Reversible Lanes Puzzle Drivers
The 10-lane Kennedy Expressway in Chicago is forced to manage significantly more traffic than it was designed to handle. Traffic planners have installed a flexible lane that can increase the flow in one direction, but Chicagoans are baffled by them.
The Chicago Tribune
One Lane, One Way, $1 Billion
The weekend closure of the 405 freeway in L.A. highlights the city's limited mobility but also the skewed way transit and transportation projects are debated.
Los Angeles Times
"Carmageddon" Hits L.A.
Shutting down the Interstate 405 corridor for two days on July 16 and 17 is akin to clipping L.A.'s mobility wings. Commuters and residents in the region are making contingency plans to circumvent heavy traffic congestion next weekend.
The New York Times
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Park Under Toronto Freeway to Transform City
Construction has begun on a new park beneath a Toronto freeway overpass. The Toronto Star's Christopher Hume says the park will change the city forever.
The Toronto Star
Understanding the Freeways of L.A.
In the latest installment of a year-long series about Los Angeles-focused books, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne reads the 1981 book "L.A. Freeway: An Appreciative Essay," by David Brodsly.
Los Angeles Times
Freeways That Should Come Down
CNU president John Norquist stars in this video from Streetfilms about the problem of inner-city highways and the steps some cities are taking to get rid of theirs.
Streetfilms
How An Inner-City Freeway Disappeared
A "crazy idea" to remove an inner city freeway in Seoul, South Korea turned to reality. This piece tells the story about how this unlikely event came to be.
Grist
When is a Freeway Not a Freeway?
When there is a toll, of course. But the Federal Highway Administration uses the word indiscriminately, confusing the matter, writes Peter Samuel of Toll Roads News.
TOLLROADSnews
El Paso Hopes to Revive Business Corridors
The city of El Paso is hoping a new plan will breathe life back into formerly booming streets sucked dry after a freeway replaced them as the main entrance to town.
El Paso Times
Freeway Teardowns: The Prudent Choice?
Efforts to tear down the Interstate-10 Claiborne Expressway, a 2.2 mile section of elevated roadway in New Orleans that many locals and activists have blamed for separating neighborhoods. Neal Pierce says teardowns might begin to grow in popularity.
Citiwire
The Congestion of Good Intentions in L.A.
The addition of a 10-mile carpool lane to one of Los Angeles' busiest freeways is creating a huge stress on the region's transportation system.
The New York Times
Broken Inner-City Freeway Reborn as Garden
Activists have turned the site of a former inner-city freeway in San Francisco into a community garden.
Good
Parks on Top of L.A. Freeways
Los Angeles is crazy for "cap parks": basically, putting roofs over sections of freeway and building a park on top. The added benefit? Reconnecting neighborhoods riven asunder by the freeway in the first place.
The Architect's Newspaper
Vaporizing the Gas Tax Myth
The United States must move away from the gas tax to solutions that charge people for the roads they use, including a VMT fee, congestion pricing for peak hours and toll roads, says Jack Finn of HNTB. Such efforts will encourage Americans to be less dependent on oil, reduce congestion, take public transit and properly invest in infrastructure.
LA, Orange Counties Collide on Freeways
As traffic congestion has worsened, so has the philosophical divide between LA and Orange counties in terms of how to address it.
Los Angeles Times
'Smart Studs' Will Open New Freeway Lanes Automatically
A new high-tech system from New Zealand will be installed on L.A.'s 110 freeway, which will feature sensors that will know when traffic slows and open an alternate lane automatically.
Los Angeles Times
The Planetizen News Brief - 7/16/09
4:30 minutes (4.13 MB)
L.A. uses park lights to fight crime, New Orleans debates tearing down a freeway, and New York turns abandoned homes to affordable housing -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
California Eliminates Transit, Expands Freeways
Tue, 04/14/2009 - 13:41
Studying the Health Effects of Living Near Freeways
Researchers are teaming up with Boston community members to study how living close to freeways can be harmful to residents' health.
The Boston Globe
Planetizen picks
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Information Sources in Planning: Principles -- Michael Dudley
Optimal Transport Policy For An Uncertain Future -- Todd Litman
Faculty Using Web 2.0 to Show Images -- Ann Forsyth
Information Sources in Planning: Introduction -- Michael Dudley
Liveblog: ULI Rose Center Kansas City Study Visit -- Jess Zimbabwe
Volunteerism Plays Critical Role in Reaching World’s Millennium Development Goals
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Feb 10, 2012
Web Seminar: Economic Development in a Digital World: Home-Based Businesses and Virtual Workers
International Economic Development Council
Feb 08, 2012
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