National Transportation Safety Board
Electric Car Batteries Spark Weight Concerns
A federal transportation official is warning that electric vehicle batteries, which can weigh thousands of pounds and make cars much heavier than their gas-powered counterparts.
Back-Up Driver of Autonomous Vehicle Charged With Negligent Homicide of Pedestrian
The broader safety implications of the death of Elaine Hertzberg after being struck by an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe is still being litigated. Last week, the back-up driver of the vehicle was charged with negligent homicide.
Nation's Top Safety Board Recommends Protected Bike Lanes
The NTSB chair issued a stark warning on Nov. 5: "If we do not improve roadway infrastructure for bicyclists, bicyclists will die who otherwise would not," stated Robert Sumwalt in introducing their first report in 47 years devoted to bike safety.
Uber's Self-Driving Cars Couldn’t Detect People Outside of Crosswalks
The National Transportation Safety Board has released documents related to the Tempe, Arizona, crash that killed a person, highlighting what went wrong with the driverless technology.
Deaths of Seven Motorcyclists Results in Resignation of Motor Vehicle Registry Chief
A pickup truck driver towing a trailer on a two-lane rural road in New Hampshire on June 21 is charged with seven counts of vehicular homicide after colliding with a group of motorcycle riders. Attention has turned to his commercial driver's license.
Did Uber Just Get Away With Manslaughter?
Remember Elaine Herzberg, the 49-year-old woman who became the first pedestrian fatality due to an autonomous vehicle when she was hit last March by an Uber with a safety driver in Tempe, Ariz.? Prosecutors found no criminal liability.
Positive Train Control Deadline: Rail Systems Go 4 for 41
A decade after Congress set a deadline for rail systems to implement positive train control, only 4 rail systems were able to get the job done on time.
Time for a Tesla Turnaround?
The Tesla Model 3 is now America's best-selling electric vehicle. The news follows a spate of bad news for the Silicon Valley-based electric vehicle manufacturer.
Tesla Fatal Crash and Battery Fire Under Investigation
Wei Huang, a 38-year-old Apple engineer, died after his Tesla Model X collided with a highway barrier on a Bay Area highway interchange on March 23. NTSB wants to know if it was operating on Autopilot. It took 5 hours to reopen the freeway.
New Pedestrian Bridge in Miami Collapses on Thursday, Killing at Least Six
A span built to remove the danger of crossing a busy eight-lane roadway to Florida International University became the danger itself when it collapsed five days after being dropped into place using innovative bridge-building techniques.
Drivers: Beware Following GPS Navigation Instructions Too Closely
For the second time at the same railroad crossing in Atherton, California, a motorist followed his GPS navigation onto Caltrain tracks. In both cases, the motorists fled their vehicles before being hit by an oncoming train.
Amtrak Suffers Third Fatal Crash in Less than Two Months
The crash in Cayce, South Carolina on Sunday killed the engineer and conductor riding in the Amtrak locomotive, injuring over 100 passengers and crew members. A locked switch had directed Amtrak #91 into a siding where it hit a parked CSX train.
Will GOP Reconsider Redirecting Amtrak Funding After Train Crash?
Republican lawmakers got a first-hand lesson in train safety Wednesday when their chartered Amtrak train hit a trash truck at a grade crossing in Virginia, killing one in the truck. Trump's infrastructure plan redirects Amtrak and transit funding.
Amtrak Cascades Derailment Foreseen in Original Rail Plans
The cause of last month's deadly Amtrak crash south of Tacoma above Interstate 5 is attributed to the train traveling at 78 mph through a curve with a speed limit of 30 mph. The original plan for the bypass called for the elimination of that curve.
Focus on Positive Train Control after Amtrak Train 501 Derails in Washington
Excessive speed is thought to be the cause of the deadly derailment on Dec. 18. Positive train control, which likely would have slowed down the train, was installed on the tracks and locomotive but was not yet operational.
How the U.S. Compares to Other Nations in Road Safety
It's not just death from gun violence where the U.S. is an outlier. The New York Times compiled traffic fatality data showing that other developed nations have greatly lower traffic death rates, which wasn't historically the case.
Federal Safety Watchdog Takes a Position on Speeding Drivers
Streetsblog USA breaks the news of a major policy departure for the National Transportation Safety Board: speeding kills, and every level of government must do more to counter the problem.
Federal Transit Administration Threatens Metro Shutdown after Thursday's Fire
Unless D.C. Metro abides by the Federal Transit Administration safety directives issued Saturday and takes "urgent action," they threatened to shut down all or parts of the system, the nation's second busiest subway after New York's.
Dramatic Bridge Collapse Snarls Washington Traffic
Two cars plunged off the I-5 truss bridge, 60 miles north of Seattle, into the frigid Skagit River at the end of Thursday's commute, but no deaths nor serious injuries occurred. The likely cause appears to be a big-rig hitting the 58-year-old bridge.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Placer County
Skagit Transit
Berkeley County
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland