Highways
Giving Highways New Life
The author of this article offers a few ideas on how to better use our 46,000 miles of highway. From the integration of rail lines to the development of electricity distribution grids, the interstate has more potential than it seems.
Trans-Texas Corridor Plans Dropped
Plans for a broad statewide highway project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor have been abandoned by state officials.
Fun with transportation statistics
A few days ago, I was looking at a regional planning document and saw something startling: an assertion that transit ridership in my region has been going down. Since transit ridership has been going up nationwide, I smelled a rat. After digging around through a big pile of statistics, I realized that there are so many different ways of measuring transit ridership that one can easily prove either that ridership is going up or that ridership is going down. Some possible measurements include:
Using Prison Technology to Avoid Roadkill
Colorado Department of Transportation has launched a pilot program that uses technology that detects wildlife in order to help drivers avoid hitting them.
Many Schools Located Next to Major Highways
New research from the University of Cincinnati shows that nearly a third of U.S. schools are located within a quarter-mile of major highways, posing a significant air pollution threat to students.
Excessive Highway Building To Blame For Bridge Woes
Official sources show that Minnesota had been long diverting bridge repair funds to build new highways.
Americans Reduce Their Driving by 3.7% in May, Transportation Funds Plummet
At a time when highway infrastructure is already facing challenges such as the rising costs of concrete and steel, a change in driving habits is causing a major reduction in available funds.
Highway Funding: The Last Bastion of Socialism in America
Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have invested nine times more capital funding in highway subsidies than in transit.
Study Says That Highways Don't Pay for Themselves
How often does one hear that transit is somehow a less respectable form of transportation than driving because of the "massive subsidies" transit receives? Well, a new study by Texas DOT says that highways don't pay for themselves either.
Dreaming of a Superhighway Across Maine
Officials in Maine are considering a plan to build a cross-state superhighway.
Robert Reich Stumps for Transit
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich gives his two cents about the need to expand public transit.
L.A. Called Home to Second Smallest Carbon Footprint
New research from the Brookings Institution claims that Los Angeles has the second smallest carbon footprint of big American cities -- a finding that contains a few caveats.
The Bronx Pushes to Revitalize the 'Highway to Nowhere'
A remnant of Robert Moses' famous push to raze neighborhoods and build highways in their place, the Sheridan Expressway is ripe for revitalization. A local advocate believes that now "the stars are aligned" for it to happen.
Oklahoma City Highway to Be Replaced with Park
At one time, Oklahoma City is doing two things many cities have only hoped to: the city's getting rid of one of its aging inner-city highways and replacing it with a park.
Myth and Reality About European Sprawl
Some commentators argue that sprawl is an inevitable result of affluence, based on European development patterns. These pundits tell a simple story: European urban cores are losing population and becoming more automobile-dependent - just like American cities. So if Europe can’t beat sprawl, neither can America.
Comprehensive Tolling Idea Meet Criticism in D.C.
A proposal to place tolls on many of the highways around Washington D.C. is being blasted by critics, who say planners should place more emphasis on providing better transit services than charging commuters left with few options.
Are planners ready for the Drew Carey (not so free) freeway?
Technology creates new challenges and opportunities, and this came home to me a couple of weeks ago when I was previewing a rough cut of Gridlock: Hell on Wheels, a video on traffic congestion released by Reason Foundation today. In the video, Comedian Drew Carey makes the following off-the-cuff comment on a morning drive-time radio show: “I would love to own a freeway in LA.”
Highway Zoning?
The Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others recalls that famous question about governments who spy on their citizens: Who will watch the watchers? (Answer: Alberto Gonzalez.) A similar, if less cloak-and-dagger question applies to planning: Who will zone the zoners? While governments use zoning to keep polluting uses away from homes, what if the biggest polluter in a city is a government use?In most cities today, the most common polluting use is exempt from zoning: highways.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
