Portland is hoping better vehicle and pedestrian counts, produced by high-tech sensors place on street light poles, can help deliver on Vision Zero promises.
"Portland is installing 200 sensors along three high-crash corridors on the city's eastside, the first step under what it's calling the 'Smart City PDX' project," reports Andrew Theen.
"The traffic sensors will provide real-time, 24/7 data to transportation staff, giving bureaucrats accurate information on the number of cars or pedestrians crossing a road at a given time and how fast people are driving," adds Theen.
The city intends to use the data, which previously had to be collected during manual counts by volunteers, when making decisions about traffic safety infrastructure. The sensors will be placed on street poles on stretches of 122nd Avenue, Southeast Division, and Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard.
The announcement precedes an expected vote by the Portland City Council on the "Smart Cities PDX Priorities Framework."
FULL STORY: Portland hopes 'smart' sensors will help transportation officials make safer streets
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association