North America

“Robbing Peter to pay Paul” and “thumb in the dike” describe the way the federal government has been funding the cost of fighting the nation’s wildfires. President Obama’s new budget proposal could change the current arrangement.

February 26, 2014 - The Denver Post

Ernest Moniz weighs-in on the exponential, and at times, explosive (literally) growth of moving crude oil by rail (CBR). His main point: pipelines are safer than rail. Science magazine editor Marcia McNutt points to pipelines' environmental benefits.

February 24, 2014 - Capital

Should dying cities like Detroit get their own visa programs to attract skilled foreign workers? What about prosperous cities like New York and London?

February 13, 2014 - Future Cities

Last Wednesday, an estimated 700,000—more than the city's population of 635,000—welcomed the Seahawks home, without major incident. Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe describes five lessons for placemaking through words and photographs.

February 8, 2014 - The Atlantic Cities

In the first case of its kind, federal regulators fined three oil companies for allegedly either failing to test, or improperly testing crude from the Bakken Shale in N.D., resulting in rail companies not knowing which type of oil tanker cars to use.

February 6, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

In the eighth installment of the Urban Juxtapositions series profiled in Planetizen on January 16, Chuck Wolfe asks if we are using the right language when it comes to densifying urban spaces.

February 1, 2014 - myurbanist

The National Transportation Safety Board called on federal regulators on Jan. 23 to approve several measures in light of a rash of oil train derailments and crude oil explosions as did their Canadian counterparts, the Transportation Safety Board.

January 28, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

People have been driving about 1% less per year for the last 9 years. What can public-private partnerships for transportation alternatives do to stoke this fire?

January 26, 2014 - PlaceShakers

Sears, Macy's, and J.C. Penney are among the national retailers who've announced substantial store closings recently. Retail industry experts believe the closures are just the beginning of an approaching "tsunami" of shrinking and shuttering stores.

January 24, 2014 - CNBC

To meet demand from passengers seeking an alternative to San Diego's small airport, and circumvent the traffic crunch at two nearby border crossings, Tijuana's international airport will provide direct access from the United States.

January 21, 2014 - The New York Times

PBS' Hari Sreenivasan and guests share impressions of the North American Auto Show held in Detroit last week. Trucks and luxury cars were the focus, not electric and super-efficient vehicles. Debate on fuel efficiency standards is predicted in 2017.

January 20, 2014 - PBS NewsHour

U.S. DOT brokered a deal with energy and rail industries whereby both would take immediate steps to prevent the recent explosions involving the more volatile Bakken crude. While voluntary, actual regulations will take more than a year to approve.

January 20, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

In an ongoing series, Urbanism Without Effort author Chuck Wolfe argues the importance of the overlaps, overlays and convergence points that define city life, and emphasizes the importance of reading and interpreting their everyday expression.

January 16, 2014 - myurbanist

Call it the Lac-Mégantic effect - the July 6 conflagration that leveled the downtown, killing 47 people, has implications for all jurisdictions where oil and freight trains run. Cities must recognize that rail insurance policies are woefully lacking.

January 14, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

A new documentary from Streetfilms explores how open streets events–which repurpose public spaces for people, rather than vehicles–have grown over the past several decades throughout South and North America.

January 12, 2014 - Streetfilms

Crude oil may be flammable, but until recently was not thought to be explosive. However, three recent oil train explosions all involving crude oil from the Bakken formation have prodded investigators to determine why Bakken crude is more explosive.

January 8, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal - Business

In cities like Houston, officials are utilizing established transmission right of ways (ROWs) to provide walking and biking trails without the land acquisition challenges that typically confront urban areas looking to expand their open spaces.

January 7, 2014 - American Trails

Yonah Freemark assembles his annual review of the year ahead in transit expansion by analyzing the dozens of projects that will start, continue, or complete construction this year in North America. Nearly every metro region is investing in transit.

January 6, 2014 - the transport politic

Throughout North America's auto-oriented suburbs, front-facing garages are a common feature of home design. According to Brent Toderian, that design decision has a significant impact on speeding and the quality of neighborhoods.

January 6, 2014 - Huffington Post British Columbia

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals why Americans don't use the healthiest, cleanest form of transportation. Hint: it has to do with the frequent injuries we're trying to avoid.

December 29, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities