The Texas Transportation Institute just released its 2010 Urban Mobility Report, which is a standard reference in the road-building industry -- and is seriously flawed, says Joe Cortright.
Cortright, working for CEOs for Cities, released an extensive critique of the Urban Mobility Report last year. Looking at the latest report, CEOs for Cities says that many of the same faulty models are still at work. Particularly, they cite TTI's "Travel Time Index" as Travel Time Index as being "built on the unrealistic baseline assumption that travel times should (and could) be no longer during peak periods as during non-peak periods and obscures the effect of land use patterns in creating longer travel distances."
"...by ignoring – and thereby concealing – the effects of longer travel distances in some cities, the UMR continues to get the ranking of cities with the worst travel problems wrong."
Thanks to Todd Litman
FULL STORY: 2010 Urban Mobility Report Remains a Flawed and Misleading Guide to Urban Transportation
Getting to Work: New Commute Duration Heatmaps
The Mineta Transportation Institute's new interactive website produces heatmaps that illustrate commute duration—the number of minutes that workers spend traveling to their jobs—plus related information, for most U.S. communities.
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California Law Ends Road Widening Mandates
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California Room to Roam Act Prioritizes Wildlife Connectivity
A new state law requires new development and infrastructure to minimize disruption to local wildlife habitats and migration patterns.
Oregon Releases Historic Preservation Plan for Next Decade
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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.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Placer County
Mayors' Institute on City Design
City of Sunnyvale
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP)
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Portland, ME
Baton Rouge Area Foundation