If Texas lawmakers hate it, California lawmakers must love it, right? Not so fast.

Steve Lopez reports on the stalled efforts to increase the amount of automated traffic enforcement in California, with two state bills focusing on automated speed enforcement in school zones and in areas with high rates of collisions.
Lopez frames the political movement as a response to the worsening safety conditions on the road during the pandemic. "Nationally, there was an 8% increase in auto fatalities, with a death toll of 42,060 — and that was in a pandemic year with significant reductions in traffic," explains Lopez of the well documented trend of pandemic life, reported by Planetizen in July 2020, October 2020, and January 2021, for example.
California legislators introduced two bills, one in the State Senate and one in the State Assembly, in an effort to deploy a proven safety technology, but both have hit speedbumps. "SB 735 by Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), which calls for automated speed enforcement in school zones throughout California ran into a wall of opposition from police organizations and others, including the ACLU." That bill has been "undermined" by amendments, according to Lopez, and is stuck in limbo. The second bill, AB 550, by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), "calls for automated speed enforcement in areas with high rates of serious collisions." That bill has been "scaled back after similar opposition, but is moving forward at the moment, with a hearing scheduled Monday before the Assembly Transportation Committee."
The article includes more detail about the legislative moves that have altered the bills so far and adds human interest stories of some f the advocates pushing for automated enforcement.
The state of California's debate about automated traffic enforcement stands in stark contrast to that of Texas, where legislators are currently working to shut down remaining local automated traffic enforcement technologies, grandfathered-in before 2019 state legislation preempted local governments from using automated traffic enforcement technologies.
FULL STORY: In Sacramento, legislative attempts to slow down drivers have hit speed bumps

Four ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’ Zoning Reforms
An excerpt from the latest book on zoning argues for four approaches to reform that can immediately improve land use regulation in the United States.

San Francisco Just Ended Single-Family Zoning
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to Tuesday to eliminate single-family zoning, but pro-development advocates say additional changes are needed to unleash a wave of construction.

U.S. Rental Market Crosses a New Threshold of Affordability
In a first for the country's rental market, most U.S. apartments are asking for more than $2,000 to rent, according to data recently published by Redfin.

Supreme Court Guts the U.S. EPA’s Ability to Limit Carbon Emissions
The consequences of this ruling have long been foretold. With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now officially barred from the fight against climate change, Congress will have to act to reduce carbon emissions.

California Approves Revised Los Angeles Housing Element
State officials officially approved the city’s housing plan, which was initially rejected for not doing enough to enhance housing equity.

Lawsuit Could Open Public Access to Colorado Rivers
Colorado is one of few U.S. states that has decided that private property owners supersede the public when it comes to access to rivers and streams.
Town of San Anselmo
Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA)
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
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.