Minneapolis and Seattle bucked national trends by increasing active transportation and use of public transit in recent years.
As cities across the U.S. struggle to sustain transit ridership, Minneapolis and Seattle have distinguished themselves with high rates of non-car commuting, according to a recent report from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
Streetsblog's Angie Schmitt reports that despite gaining 30,000 residents between 2007 and 2016, Minneapolis reduced vehicle miles traveled by 2 percent over that time. In Seattle, average daily traffic fell 5 percent between 2006 and 2017.
"Believe it or not, this is a rare feat," Schmitt writes, noting that low gas prices, population growth, and the rise of ride-hailing services have made reducing driving "one of the hardest codes [to crack] in city planning."
The strategies that led to these results won't be surprising to many transportation planners. They fell along three major lines:
- Investment in public transit, both bus and rail. Both Seattle and Minneapolis are in the midst of building or expanding their BRT networks, and both have opened new rail lines in recent years. Seattle voters in particular have shown willingness to fund transportation.
- Investment in bike infrastructure. Both cities are "famously bike friendly," with Seattle being named Bicycling Magazine's Top Biking City in America in 2018.
- Urban infill and dense, walkable development. Seattle recently launched a program to build affordable apartments on public land adjacent to light rail, while Minneapolis saw nearly $1 billion in downtown development in 2017 and eliminated parking requirements in 2018.
FULL STORY: How Two Cities Actually Reduced Driving
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
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.