Government / Politics
The End of the World's Fastest, Free Drive?
The free part, not the fast part that is. Perhaps it was just a matter of time before Germany considered a toll for its autobahn network like neighbors Switzerland and Austria do. Germans could deduct the annual toll from their vehicle taxes.
Campaign 2014: Rolling Back Gas Tax Indexing
Massachusetts voters will decide on Question 1 on Tuesday—an initiative petition to eliminate the automatic, annual indexing of its 26.5-cent gasoline excise tax to inflation, implemented with a three-cent gas tax increase last year.
Campaign 2014: Louisiana, Maryland, and Wisconsin Transportation Measures
Maryland and Wisconsin will not ask voters to raise taxes for transportation, but will ask them to adopt constitutional restrictions to ensure gas tax funds are not diverted for other purposes. Louisiana hopes to create an infrastructure bank.
Mapping the New Deal
The Living New Deal Project Map from the University of California, Berkeley was released earlier this month, pinpointing all of the New Deal projects around the United States.
New Los Angeles Mayoral Directive on Water Conservation
In an effort to conserve water and prevent the expensive water importation in the future, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently published a new directive for city-wide water conservation.
Struggling Toll Roads Make for Good Investments
In another example of a struggling toll road attracting no shortage of investors, the poor revenue performance of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency in Orange County, California has not dissuaded investors, as the returns are high.
An Interview with Kaid Benfield, Urban Resilience Guru
PlaceMakers asks Kaid to give us his idea of where we are in the effort to integrate smart growth strategies in the broadest sense into community planning and design.
Campaign 2014: Rhode Island Transit Measure
For the first time, Rhode Island voters will be tested on their support for public transit by whether they approve authorizing $35 million for Mass Transit Hub Infrastructure Bonds on Nov. 4. In addition to hubs, statewide bus service is targeted.
Occupy Democracy in Parliament Square
A recent protest movement to reuse London’s Parliament Square as a space for political discourse has been met with oppressive policing.
U.K. Pins Economic Growth on Metropolitan Areas
A new plan is afoot in Britain that will devolve centralized power away from central government and out into metropolitan areas. Bruce Katz sees lessons for the United States in the experience of United Kingdom.
Fighting Homelessness by Closing a Commuter Rail Station
The high desert city of Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County has an innovative plan to reduce its homeless population: Close its Metrolink station, the last stop on the Antelope Valley line, that serves 400 commuters daily.
The False Choice in the Gentrification Debate
The income of original residents is more important to the gentrification debate than any opposition to luxury development or price controls. We need to begin to embed income inequality within the gentrification debate.
How Cities are Overcoming Federal Roadblocks for Transportation Improvements
Tanya Snyder provides a thorough survey of the talking points of five U.S. mayors from a recent Washington Post forum on transportation.
Tolls vs Taxes and the State of the American Highway
Making up only seven percent of U.S. interstate miles, the future of toll roads is bright according to Brooking's Robert Puentes and Diane Rehm's other guests in a 52-minute, wide ranging discussion on gas taxes, toll roads, and privatization.
D.C. Officials Dramatically Scale Back Streetcar System
In a recent move, officials from Mayor Vincent C. Gray's administration shortened DC's streetcar system to a much-shorter eight miles.
Bloomberg Editors Propose a 'Flexible' Federal Gas Tax
Bloomberg's editors ask rhetorically, with gas prices falling due to crashing oil prices, will the federal government raise the gas tax to fund badly needed road infrastructure? They suggest tying the gas tax to oil prices in reverse direction.
Special Delivery: U.S. Postal Service and Groceries
The Postal Regulatory Commission approved of a two-year trial allowing the United States Postal Service to deliver groceries to homes in the morning.
'I Quant NY' Brings Data Journalism to the People
Ben Wellington teaches a statistics course based on NYC Open Data at the Pratt Institute’s City & Regional Planning program, and is the founder of the quirky data blog "I Quant NY."
Recalling Our Basic Pride of Place
In the fifth of his "place-decoding" series from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls how we carry with us the ability to mine pride from place, even in places that are, perhaps, least expected to shine.
Op-Ed: End the Pejorative Use of 'NIMBY'
Harvard University professor Naomi Oreskes writes a defense of NIMBYism, asking that we rethink he use of the term by considering the community-protecting motives of many NIMBYs.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
