In the Philadelphia region, residents of wealthier neighborhoods will be more likely to work from home in the future, thus altering travel patterns and transit usage, according to a new mapping project powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

"Students from Penn State University's Nittany AI Alliance, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and Accenture, have developed an AI-driven algorithm to illustrate the 'teleworking risk' of census tracts across the Philadelphia region," according to an article by Kristin Musulin.
"The algorithm uses American Community Survey data and historical ridership data from SEPTA to indicate the percentage of jobs that can be done by telework in each tract, then displays those percentages in a heat map," according to Musulin.
The interactive SEPTA Future Telework Forecasting Tool allows for layers like bus and train routes to be added to the heat map. The creators of the map hope that the findings of the study can help planners prepare for a future that includes a lot more telework—and all the land use and transportation implications such a shift would entail.
One key characteristic the project reveals about "telework risk," or the potential for large numbers of people to work from home instead of commuting into offices and other workplaces, is that wealthier areas are more likely to see large numbers of people working from home.
FULL STORY: PSU team maps Philadelphia's telework trends

Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.

Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.

Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.

Affordable Housing Proposal Faces Backlash in Salt Lake City
A public hearing last week revealed widespread opposition to a plan to loosen density and height limits and reduce parking requirements to encourage more developers to build affordable housing.

Houston Bike Summit Makes In-Person Return
The event will focus on improving bike safety and continuing maintenance on the city's growing network of bike lanes and trails.

Austin’s Transit CEO Moving to D.C.
After overseeing a major system redesign and plans for its largest-ever expansion, the head of Capital Metro will take over Washington, D.C.’s transit agency.
City of Malibu
EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
City of Lakeway, Texas
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.
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.