A report authored by Transportation for America and the American Public Transportation Association suggests that, no less than Social Security and Medicare, retiring baby boomers will have to cope with limited mobility options.
But this alone does not justify the agencies' plea for more funding, argues The Antiplanner:
"After decades of huge transit subsidies, per capita transit ridership today is no greater than it was in 1970–mainly because the subsidies have focused on extending transit service to those who don't need it rather than providing better service to those who do."
The solution, according to O'Toole? Spend more on increasing the current level of service in the central city areas where the demand for transit is consistently high instead of extending the routes en masse to the suburbs where public transit ridership is low.
Transportation for America has a blistering critique of O'Toole's analysis of their study, basically explaining that the report does not say what O'Toole claims it says.
Read the full story: The Myth of the Senior Transit Rider
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Over 13,000 comments were submitted in the federal Request for Information on surface transportation reauthorization. We analyzed all of them.
Follow Planetizen’s analysis of surface transportation reauthorization
Follow along as we explore the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill and its potential impacts on US transportation infrastructure in the coming years.
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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.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
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Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
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St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
If Corpus Christi can’t revive desalination plant project, it may owe Texas $235 million
Earlier this month, city officials declined to pursue developing the plant for the second time in a year.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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