Technology

Feds Fund Chicago's Congestion Pricing Parking Plan

$153 million in congestion reduction funds that had been awarded to New York City will now go to Chicago to apply congestion pricing to street parking spaces. Funds will also go toward developing pilot Bus Rapid Transit routes on dedicated lanes.

May 1, 2008 - U.S DOT: Office of Public Affairs

Summer Heat May Thaw Frozen Winter Roads

Officials in the United Kingdom are looking at a new technique to deal with frozen winter roads -- by collecting and saving summer heat.

April 27, 2008 - The Guardian

The Challenge of Vertical Construction

A 17-story condominium tower in Boise, Idaho is being built on a 32-foot-wide footprint. Workers talk about the challenges of constructing such a skinny building.

April 23, 2008 - The Idaho Statesman

New Website Shows Impact Of Transportation On Housing Costs

A new interactive mapping website launched by the Center for Neighborhood Technology in partnership with The Brookings Institution shows how affordability changes from neighborhood to neighborhood based on housing and transportation.

April 21, 2008 - The Washington Post

City Silences Cell Phones On Transit

Responding to the growing backslash against cell phone chatter, the city of Graz, Austria has banned cell phone use on its public transit system.

April 20, 2008 - Associated Press

The New Graffiti

Using laser technology, two artists have created a new type of "temporary graffiti" -- light shows that use public places as canvasses for their laser art.

April 18, 2008 - Time

San Francisco Aims To Give Parking A Technological Makeover

Variable parking rates and online parking availability are features of a pilot program meant to increase convenience and cut congestion on the road.

April 17, 2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Let the Computer Do the Driving

Avoiding traffic congestion may soon be as easy as surfing the web, thanks to new web software that maps out congestion and calculates the best and most efficient driving routes.

April 15, 2008 - The New York Times

The Real Problem With Transit: Lack Of Customer Service

Forget slogans and fancy trains. If transit agencies just focused on getting people where they need to go in a consistent, reliable (and preferably quicker) way, more people would abandon their cars.

April 14, 2008 - The Toronto Star

Could Google Transit Become The Universal Trip Planner?

As the site adds more transit systems to its database, some hope that Google's transit route planner could become as useful as its car route mapping software.

April 13, 2008 - Wired Magazine

Web 2.0 in Planning

Hot technologies like blogs, mashups, YouTube, Flickr, and social networking are among the most notable of new Internet technologies that are collectively known as Web 2.0. These technologies offer great possibilities for planners.

April 11, 2008 - Planning Magazine

Enhancing Public Transit With Wi-Fi

Some transit agencies are hoping to woo riders by providing internet access on bus and rail vehicles, allowing commuters to check email and surf the web on the way to work.

April 10, 2008 - Wi-Fi Planet

Facilitating A Community Dialog On The Internet

The City of Oak Harbor, Washington is giving residents a chance to sound off about planning and development issues on several blogs.

April 10, 2008 - Whidbey News-Times

Google Sued Over 'Street View'

Pittsburgh couple sues Google for invasion of privacy after photos of their home are published on Google's "Street View" mapping feature.

April 8, 2008 - The Smoking Gun

Slow Adoption For SF's Pay-By-Phone Parking Meters

The city has outfitted more than 1,000 parking meters with new technology to allow motorists to pay over the phone. Yet most of them haven't noticed.

April 5, 2008 - The Examiner

Will Boston's Citywide Wi-Fi Network Be Realized?

Boston's plan to blanket the city with wireless internet access has met a series of obstacles which seriously threaten the project.

April 4, 2008 - The Boston Globe

Pittsburgh Wrestling With New LED Billboards

A six-month moratorium on new billboards has been passed by the Pittsburgh City Council as it struggles to formulate a policy for brightly lit LED signs.

April 2, 2008 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Wi-Fi Plans Dropped Over Health Concerns

Officials in the California city of Sebastopol have gone back on an agreement with an Internet provider that was planning to create a municipal Wi-Fi network for the city. They cited health concerns in their decision.

March 28, 2008 - The Press Democrat

Computer Problems Prompt Census Bureau to Rethink Counting Method

Technological issues with the handheld computers to be used in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 Census have frustrated officials and have them considering a plan to return to the traditional paper and pencil counting method of years past.

March 27, 2008 - CNN

Venice Plans For Sea Level Rise

Operation "Rialto" will lift some Venice buildings up to 3.3 feet in an effort to avoid the negative implications of sea level rise.

March 26, 2008 - Terra Daily

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.

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.