In the early days, trolleys and trains carried 400,000 passengers a day over the Brooklyn Bridge. With continued growth in pedestrian traffic, a former transit commissioner says a rail renaissance might not be so far-fetched.
"'People took trains across the bridge,' says former Transportation Commissioner Sam Schwartz. 'At one point, there were four tracks across the bridge. More than 400,000 people a day in those early decades used the Brooklyn Bridge every single day.'"
"'The Brooklyn Bridge walkway is getting so popular that we may have to begin to think, How do we accommodate all the pedestrians? Should we put the roads on a diet? Should we introduce some kind of transit service? Probably not a bus service, but maybe it will be a light rail service going across the bridge,' says Schwartz. 'So in the next 75 years ‘til its bicentennial, I think the bridge probably will go back to a more transit-oriented bridge.'"
Read the full story: Brooklyn Bridge Could Become More Transit-Oriented In Future
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
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.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello