Austin planners are considering a law designed to ensure bus service performance by requiring drivers to allow buses to merge after making a stop, but transit advocates point to a body of research that casts doubt on the efficacy of such laws.

Caleb Pritchard reports from Austin: "Mayor Steve Adler’s sales pitch for his successful $720 million transportation bond promised the creation of new bus pullouts along major city corridors so that, in his words, 'cars can keep on going when the bus pulls over.'"
That's where the challenge arises. "Transit advocates and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority countered that notion with concerns that endless platoons of zooming vehicles would pin buses inside the pullouts, thus kneecapping City Council’s directive to staff to use the bond money both to ease congestion and improve transit operations," according to Pritchard.
Thus a new state or local law is under consideration to "require drivers to yield to buses attempting to re-enter the flow of traffic," but the track record of such laws in other states and cities has not made a case for the potential success of the law in speeding up transit service.
FULL STORY: Corridor plans could yield new traffic law, but buses might not benefit as promised

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?
The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts
Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.
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.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie