It’s time to harness technology for cleaner, healthier, and safer cities.
This article calls for the elimination of vehicular exhaust from urban centers within the next ten years. It draws an analogy between tolerating polluted air in our city streets and smoking on an airplane, which was finally banned in the year 2000.
The writers state: "With the ever-improving performance of electric-powered vehicles - from autonomous shuttles to new forms of micromobility - and a growing realization that quality of life is not all about moving traffic, there is no reason that we can’t have city centers that are cleaner, healthier and safer than what we have today."
The article discusses other sources of pollution, including particulate matter, and explains that electrically powered vehicles still have better environmental performance even when their power source is derived from fossil fuels. Finally, the article challenges North American cities to catch up with European cities in taking on bold proposals to limit fossil fuel engines and create environments that better accommodate pedestrians, bikes and other clean modes of transportation.
FULL STORY: Exhaust-free city centers by 2030!
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
LA’s Trees Absorb More Carbon Than Expected, But Can’t Do It Alone
A USC study finds that Los Angeles’ urban trees absorb more carbon than expected, but while they provide crucial environmental benefits, they cannot replace the urgent need for systemic emissions reductions.
Ways the EPA Can Still Fight Climate Change
Despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision to limit the EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from power plants, the agency still has a range of tools at its disposal for enforcing pollution controls and reducing harmful emissions.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association