Los Angeles’s Union Station is trying something new to keep the homeless at bay: restricting waiting room seating to ticketed passengers.
But the pilot program might not just affect L.A.’s homeless population, Damien Newton writes. Because the new policy restricts seats to Metrolink and Amtrak riders, Metro travelers and locals waiting for family or friends might also be given the boot.
Depending upon how it’s enforced, then, the program could create a two-tiered system of rail transit, with Metrolink and Amtrak riders in the first class, and subway riders in the second. “For many people, Union Station is their first taste of Los Angeles,” Newton writes. “It’s going to send a strange message when one of the first thing[s] a visitor experiences is being shooed out of what appears to be a public seating area.”
FULL STORY: Union Station's Pilot Program Aimed at Moving the Homeless, But Does It Create Two Classes of Transit Rider?
Storms Sever California Rail Line—Again
The coast-hugging rail corridor linking Los Angeles and San Diego faces an uncertain future as mudslides once again force part of the line to close.
Targeting Another Gap in the System, L.A. Metro Looks to Expand Eastward
The potential 2.8 mile expansion of the Metro Green Line would connect light rail to the Norwalk MetroLink Station, opening up new transit options to users throughout the region.
Taking Measure of LA's Westside Subway Project
Yonah Freemark assesses one of the nation's most important public transportation improvement projects, LA's long discussed Westside Subway project which is closer than ever to construction, but still a long ways off from completion.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
Paris Voters Approve More Car-Free Streets
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city will develop a plan to close 500 streets to car traffic and add new bike and pedestrian infrastructure after a referendum on the proposal passed with 66 percent of the vote.
Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.
Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service