Transportation

Tolling All Lanes
Bay Area transportation planners are studying a radical idea to reduce traffic congestion and fund driving alternatives: tolling all lanes on a freeway. Even more radical, the plan considers tolling parallel roads.

Federal SMART Grants Awarded for Transportation Safety, Equity Projects
The grant program focuses on the use of technology to improve safety, accessibility, and efficiency in transportation.

Fare Enforcement Upheld by Washington Supreme Court
But using armed police to enforce fare payment is less than ideal in the eyes of the top court in the state of Washington.

Buttigieg: Tesla ‘Autopilot’ Marketing ‘A Concern’
The USDOT secretary says marketing doesn’t fall under his department’s investigative authority, but expressed disapproval of language that implies autonomous operation.

Texas Legislation Would Add More Roadblocks for Transit Funding in Austin
A former Austin city councilmember, now at the Texas State Legislature, is trying to make it harder for Austin Transit Partnership to borrow money to fund Project Connect, the Austin region’s big, ambitious transit investment plan.

Chicago Approves New Parking Enforcement Pilot Programs
The city plans to test automated technology that will issue citations for blocking or parking in designated bike or bus lanes.

The Deepening Transit Crisis: L.A. Times Reports Drug Use on Transit
An article by the L.A. Times earlier this week has raised the temperature of the debate about drug users and crime on rail transit. Concerns about public safety on transit are a common symptom of post-pandemic transit around the country.

FTA Waives Local Funding Match for Complete Streets Projects
Local and state agencies can apply for federal Complete Streets funding without matching funds until 2026.

Rethinking the Role of Parking in the American City
In cities big and small, the tide is turning against sprawling parking lots, car-centric development, and minimum parking mandates.

Interstate Expansion to Go Ahead in Houston
The North Houston Highway Improvement Project, stalled by a federal investigation, will now go ahead with only a few tweaks that opponents say don’t go far enough to mitigate the damage it will cause to Houston neighborhoods.

Federal Alternative Fuel Charging Grant Funding Announced
The grant program is part of the 2021 infrastructure act, which promised to invest in charging and fueling stations for electric cars and other vehicles powered by alternative energy.

Panel Rejects LaGuardia AirTrain, Recommends Better Buses
The recommendations issued by a panel of experts concluded that bus improvements could serve travelers sooner and more cost-effectively than the proposed AirTrain rail line.

Congestion Growing in Sunbelt Cities
Cities with rapidly growing populations and inadequate public transit systems are seeing more gridlock despite changes in commuting patterns and the rise of remote work.

Revisions Looming, Austin’s Project Connect Reveals the Obstacles of Transit Planning in 2023
A once sprawling and singularly ambitious capital investment plan for the Capital Metro system will soon be reduced in size and scope. The episode is more evidence of an emerging era of transit planning austerity.

Car-Oriented Cities See Rise in Car-Free Developments
No longer tied to minimum parking requirements, housing developers are starting to shift to more walkable, transit-oriented projects.

Tensions Rise Between Dallas and Rapid Transit Agency
The city is accusing DART of mismanagement of tax revenue that the agency had pledged to return to the city for infrastructure investments.

Fancy New Subway Cars Join the New York Subway System
New York has been planning on adding these new subway cars for years, finally achieving their goal in March 2023. More than a thousand of the new R211 trains will be running in New York within two years if all goes according to plan.

The Perilous Future of Bay Area Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit, a hugely successful system pre-pandemic, is now struggling to close a massive projected budget gap, with no certain solutions on the table.

A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts
Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.

Amtrak To Study New York-to-Dallas Service
A proposal to extend the Crescent line would bring rail service through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Pagination
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