The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

The story of Utrecht's new bike parking garage—with enough space initially for 6,000 bikes—has a surprising twist: local bike advocates don't think it's big enough.

August 9 - The Guardian

Advocates say the mandatory bike helmet proposal is a step in the wrong direction for traffic safety.

August 9 - Gothamist

BLOG POST

Chia-Yuan Yu and Minjie Xu guest blog about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

August 9 - JPER

Greater Greater Washington has identified a snazzy new app that informs transit riders about the crowd size on trains before they arrive. The benefit to crowded transit systems should be obvious.

August 8 - Greater Greater Washington

An editorial in the New York Times argues that exclusionary zoning reinforces segregation and must be curbed.

August 8 - The New York Times

Programs that make folks pay for garbage services based on how much they throw away can cut down trash in landfills. Designers are looking for ways to adapt these programs to multiunit buildings.

August 8 - Medium

More people now bike to work in New York than in any other U.S. city.

August 8 - The New York Times

Los Angeles Metro's new Gold Line light rail extension is attracting riders from the regional Metrolink commuter rail line that serves San Bernardino. The editorial board of the Daily Bulletin suggests that's not necessarily a problem.

August 8 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Walkable urban neighborhoods tend to have more expensive housing but cheaper transport. By shifting spending from vehicles to housing a typical household can build a million dollars in additional equity by choosing a Smart Growth location.

August 8 - Public Square

Downtown businesses are helping fund an innovative program to get more downtown workers out of their cars and onto public transit.

August 8 - The Columbus Dispatch

Commercial vacancies have "ballooned" in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle, as the energy slump takes hold of the real estate market. The last time vacancies were this high: the oil bust of the 1980s.

August 8 - Houston Chronicle

BLOG POST

We can all do better when it comes to water.

August 8 - Kayla Matthews

Kansas City will vote today on two transportation-related initiatives. Once would inhibit the growth of the Kansas City Streetcar. Another would create a tax to find several new rail lines.

August 8 - The Kansas City Star

No two people seem to quite agree on what the word "gentrification" means. If you're at all interested in what shapes our cities, you're bound to find yourself in a conversation about gentrification eventually—and you might find yourself in a fight.

August 7 - Modern Cities

The Guardian shares news of a new study of a Jakarta lane that could prove that carpool requirements work to reduce driving and congestion.

August 7 - The Guardian

Another unpleasant reminder for the Trump Administration that there are three equal branches of government: A federal appeals court ruled 9-2 that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt must enforce a rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

August 7 - CNN Politics

Coastal cities are taking a no-tolerance approach to RVs on their streets, even as they otherwise strive to mitigate and prevent homelessness.

August 7 - Pacific Standard

Americans preference to travel in their own personal vehicles shows no signs of abating, reflected by May mileage data, the most recent compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, indicating a 2.2 percent increase compared with May 2016.

August 7 - Planetizen

Mayor Bill de Blasio is looking for new ways to fund transit improvements and access.

August 7 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

Motor vehicles are expensive to own and operate. Many lower-income households spend more on transportation than they can afford due to a lack of affordable mobility options. The solution is more multimodal planning.

August 7 - Todd Litman