Subways

Portland Transit

Rail Transit: You Get What You Pay For

Seattle Transit blog compares rail investments from five cities around the country.

June 9, 2016 - Seattle Transit Blog

Boston Subway T

The Sad Saga of Three East Coast Subways

With so much attention placed on the woes facing D.C. Metro, it's important to recognize that it is hardly the only subway facing critical infrastructure investment needs.

May 27, 2016 - The New York Times

Hudson Yards Subway Station

Cut Transit Amenities, Not Service

It's important for transit to look and feel nice, if only to resurrect its deeply tarnished image in the United States. But ridership depends on good service, not good aesthetics.

May 16, 2016 - the transport politic

Paris Metro Train

8 Lessons from the Paris Metro

Transportation planner Dan Malouff shares eight insights into what makes the Paris Metro one of the world's great subways.

May 3, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

Modern high speed bullet train in China

The Pop Culture Verdict: Transit Is Hip

Several decades ago, public transit was a distinctly low-quality way of getting around. Now, if we can believe TV and movies depicting the near future, all that has changed. Transit has become aspirational.

April 29, 2016 - Governing

Airport

Chronic Homelessness Persists at New York City Transit Hubs and Airports

Two train stations, two airports, and one bus terminal double as homeless shelters in New York City. When some close for the night, the subways fill in.

April 23, 2016 - The New York Times

Subway Sign

A New Subway Line Unveiled for Republican Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz

It wasn't the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that named the new subway line for the Texas senator, but one of the city's major tabloids showed its 'only in New York City' creative flair for attention-grabbing headlines.

April 9, 2016 - Daily News

A New Generation of Subway Cars Coming to New York

The first "open gangway" subway cars are due to arrive in New York in 2020. These cars enable passengers to freely walk between cars without having to struggle to open doors to access an adjacent car.

February 9, 2016 - The New York Times

Why It's So Hard to Tell When a New York Train Will Arrive

The Atlantic has deep and detailed coverage of the expensive, obsolete, and decaying technology used by the New York subway system.

November 15, 2015 - The Atlantic

Tokyo Subway Map

Asian Subways Are the Busiest

Rankings from the International Association of Public Transport have Tokyo on top, followed by Beijing and Shanghai. New York comes in seventh.

November 11, 2015 - Citymetric

Ambitious Subway Agenda Endorsed by Transportation Secretary Foxx

When San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener proclaimed last month that his city "should always have a subway under construction," there were many doubters due to the funds required and unlikelihood of federal support. "Aggressive" is good, says Foxx.

October 8, 2015 - San Francisco Examiner

Subway Tunnel

Subways Central to San Francisco Supervisor's Ambitious Transit Agenda

San Francisco County Supervisor announced an ambitious agenda to construct underground rail transit—arguing that the city "should always have a subway under construction."

September 9, 2015 - San Francisco Examiner

Seattle Bogue Plan

What If Seattle Had a Century-Old Subway?

Virgil Bogue's 1911 Plan of Seattle called for a centrally-planned metropolis with efficient transit, parks, and a cap on building height. It was voted down, but remains an interesting study on planning for the long term.

August 29, 2015 - SeattlePI

Friday Funny: When Subway Announcements Get Real

A McSweeney's post satirizes the obfuscations and euphemisms of public transit system announcements by finally putting things in brutally frank terms.

May 8, 2015 - McSweeny's

Washington D.C. Metro

D.C. Metro Stops Poised for Growth in Ridership

While transit ridership is up around the country, the D.C. Metro has experienced the opposite. The agency's planners aren't worried about those numbers, though. They're excited about development that's bringing more residents to transit-served areas.

April 30, 2015 - The Washington Post

Transit Ridership

U.S. Subway Car Design Behind the Curve

Yonah Freemark examines U.S. subway systems and notes the lack of "open gangways" (i.e., the space between the cars). Only in the U.S. do doors separate cars. What gives?

April 8, 2015 - the transport politic

nyc. subway.

New York Will Phase Out C Train 'Brightliners' By 2017

Once the subway's pride, R-32 'Brightliner' trains that operate on the C line will soon disappear from service. Mid-century promo videos notwithstanding, the line's rolling stock was in dire need of an update.

March 31, 2015 - WNYC: Transportation Nation

San Francisco Planners Study Extension of Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf

San Francisco is hard at work on a Central Subway project expected to open in 2019 with a terminus in Chinatown, but planners have already been hard at work studying an extension of the subway to Fisherman's Wharf.

December 3, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Vancouver transit

First-Day Ridership Projected at 250,000 for Vancouver's Broadway Subway

City staff recently released revised first-day ridership projections for a proposed subway in Vancouver. The numbers seem astronomical and a strong support for the cause. But can the project get the finding it needs?

May 15, 2014 - Globe and Mail

Boston Subway Tremont Construction

The Original Big Digs

The gridlock in American cities today doesn't compare to the crush on streets in Boston and New York City in the mid- to late-1800s. In The Race Underground, Doug Most chronicles the occasionally synchronous development of the nation’s first subways.

April 10, 2014 - Josh Stephens

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.