Automated monorails were the hottest invention since the wheel back in the 1960s, and the Feds wanted to see them in every city. So what happened?
Eric Jaffe says that HUD actually released a report in 1964, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to promote alternative forms of transportation. After failing to catch on, Congress recommended making funds available to cities to encourage the construction of more monorails. Jaffe says there was interest, and a handful of cities got theirs built, but the Reagan Administration brought the grants to an end:
"Still, the legacy of the downtown people mover is not entirely a failed one, civil engineers William Sproule and William Leder argued in a recent talk. In some sense, it cleared the way for the surge in circulator buses and streetcars taking place today."
Read the full story: Whatever Happened to the Downtown People Mover?
‘The Power of the Kraken:’ Seattle Monorail Ridership Spikes for Hockey Games
Seattle’s new professional hockey team is drawing legions of enthusiastic fans. Around a quarter of them are taking public transit, such as the city’s often-maligned monorail, to games.
Jacksonville To Replace Monorail With Autonomous Shuttles
The city’s aging monorail system will be repurposed as part of an expanded 10-mile shuttle system.
Miami Rapid Transit Project Moves Forward
The county completed the draft environmental impact study for a monorail and people mover planned as part of its rapid transit system.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority