To sway public opinion, the Orange County toll road agency hired a group of consultants. Critics say the cost and service delivered aren’t acceptable.

Transportation Corridor Agencies, the agency pushing for an extension of the Highway 241 toll road in Southern California’s Orange County, is under fire for its contracts with consulting firms doing public outreach work.
Officials in San Clemente opposing an extension reviewed consultant billings, and they say the spending is a waste of public funds. "Some digital media experts questioned a $380,000 budget in one year to produce content for two small websites and social media accounts for the tollway authority, as well as marketing to specific audiences, saying such work should cost far less," reports Adam Elmahrek.
Consultants were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for reading news stories and for other tasks that appear to be covered under retainer agreements. "Billing records reviewed by The Times show a consultant at one firm was paid for working 28 hours in a single day," says Elmahrek.
San Clemente hired its own strategic consultants, and the tollway firms say much of their work involved monitoring and responding to misinformation put out by the city. Still, San Clemente officials argue the high fees and political connections of the consulting firms call for a full audit of the agency’s billings.
FULL STORY: While you sit in traffic, these tollway consultants charge the public $185 an hour for reading news

The California High-Speed Rail Project Illustrates America’s Transit Issues
Slow progress and a bloated budget have plagued the High-Speed Rail project linking San Francisco to Los Angeles, exposing deeper issues with American transit projects.

What Role Does Health Care Play in Community Development?
Cities are economically diverse and require accessible health care systems, but this can be challenging to implement. Urban developers are working alongside health professionals to create affordable care for city residents.

Density and Driving: A Second Look
A common argument against more compact housing is that increased population density will only reduce vehicle miles traveled at moderate levels of density, as opposed to very low-density and very high-density areas. But this might not be so.

Zoning Reform Works, but Is No Magic Bullet
Improving housing affordability and boosting housing production requires more than just eliminating single-family zoning.

Feds to Award $13 Million for Transit Oriented Development Planning
A newly bolstered competitive grant program administered by the Federal Transit Administration has announced a new round of funding.

Bay Area Transit Stations To Feature Local Writers
A contest in the San Francisco Bay Area will select 30 short stories that will be available at special vending kiosks at transit stations.
Piedmont Environmental Council
City of Oakland, California
Marin Transit
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of San Carlos
City of Redwood City
City of Hot Springs
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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.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.