Technology

Study: Interaction between Bicyclists and Streetcars Find Deadly Results
A new study looks at the interaction between bicyclists and streetcars (trams) or train tracks and does not find a good outcome.

Google Maps Adds New 'Areas of Interest' Overlay
A new Google Maps redesign hopes to help make it easier to explore your surroundings. As with everything based on a mobile phone, the potential exists that it might also help ignore your surroundings.

Debating Elon Musk's Second 'Master Plan'
When Elon Musk talks, lots of people listen. Some also respond.

Critics Pushing Back on Columbus' Vision of a 'Smart City'
Not everyone is buying in to the city of Columbus' vision for the future of transportation.

Meet the 'Top 10 Private Sector Disrupters in Transportation'
Names like Zipcar, Uber, and Musk can be found on the list, along with names that aren't quite household…yet.

Ambitious Design Overhaul Proposed for New York Subway Stations and Cars
Some of the New York Subway's stations and cars could be getting a drastically updated look—as soon as 2020.

Op-Ed: Highway Tolling Can Have Multiple Benefits
The editorial board of the Toronto Star picks a side in the policy debate over highway tolling.

The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up
Dave Biggs interviews author James Hoggan about his new book, "I'm Right and You're An Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up."

Macabre Ethical Dilemmas: Just the Tip of the Iceberg for Robot Cars
The ethical quandaries that will confront self-driving cars as they navigate the world pose a lot of difficult questions. Antonio Loro charts a course for answering these tough questions.

Planetizen Week in Review: July 18, 2016
The Planetizen Week in Review is back.

Should We Stay or Should We Go? Low-Lying Coastal Towns Debate Choices
Two U.S. coastal communities are debating the merits of staying or leaving due to effects from climate change and rising sea levels

Uber Creeping Into Transit Territory
One of the great, looming questions of transportation is whether transportation network companies will complement or compete with transit. A recent promotion moves toward the compete end of the spectrum.
The Sharing Economy Comes to Urban Public Schools
How one firm is integrating sharing economy principles to bolster Chicago's public schools.

Time to Try Pokémon Go: Augmented Reality Connecting People to Places
Planners across the globe have been exploring opportunities to use augmented reality to enhance the way the public engages with the city. Over the last few days Pokémon Go took off, and now people are wandering across cities to catch Pokémon.

Looking for Solutions in a World of Innovations
Current trends in the design community require a pointed question: "When everything is characterized as 'world-changing,' is anything?"
Meet the Roving Robot Parking Attendant
They're not as cute as R2D2, but they have better intentions than a Cylon. Welcome our new robot parking attendants.

Will First Fatality Affect the Development of Self-Driving Cars?
A May 7 crash of a Model S Tesla in Florida may have outsized implications for the future of driverless technology. The details of the single-fatality crash were made public in a June 30 blog by Tesla though they were reported immediately to NHTSA.

#TeslaCrash: Three Reasons for Tesla (and All of Us) to Be Concerned
Tesla has just disclosed the first fatal crash of a driver using its "Autopilot" system. Tesla should be concerned about the question of who's liable, and we should all be concerned about the wider consequences of this tragic event.

The 3 Most Common Community Engagement Mistakes
Planners, like any other professionals, live in a kind of bubble. Those charged with dealing with the public run the risk of expecting too much from residents as they design community engagement activities. Here are some of the most common mistakes.

Is New York Distributing Its Public Plazas Equally?
An analysis of the geographic distribution of New York's new public plazas sought to determine if the program was meeting one of its stated goals: providing access to public plazas for low- and moderate-income households.
Pagination
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.
Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)