Transportation

Tysons Corner Parking Lot

Reducing Parking Requirements for Huge, Regional Malls

Fairfax County, Virginia is considering a change to its parking requirements that would lower the number of parking spots at large malls like Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria.

October 15, 2019 - Tysons Reporter

Electric Scooters

Scooter Pilot Comes to a Close in Chicago

Chicago's heavily debated electric scooter rental pilot comes to a close today. The debate about how to treat electric scooter rentals in the future also begins today.

October 15, 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Delmar Loop

Loop Trolley on the Ropes in St. Louis

Extremely poor ridership might be dooming the St. Louis Loop Trolley less than a year after it opened to the public.

October 14, 2019 - St. Louis Riverfront Times

San Francisco, California

Governor's Veto Kills Complete Streets Requirements for Caltrans

California Governor Gavin Newsom over the weekend vetoed a bill that would have required the state's department of transportation to consider public transit as well as bike and pedestrian infrastructure when planning projects on state-owned roads.

October 14, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Manhattan Bus Transit

Miracle on 14th Street

Predictions of carmageddon have not come to pass after New York City blocked most car traffic of a section of 14th Street in Manhattan to make way for buses.

October 14, 2019 - The New York Times

Woman on Transit

The Case for Gender Mainstreaming in Transportation Planning

Like the curb cut effect achieved by the Americans With Disabilities Act, which benefitted a much larger cross-section of the population than the legislation originally intended, gender mainstreaming could multiply benefits in the public realm.

October 14, 2019 - MinnPost

High-Speed Rail

Conflicts of Interest on the CA High-Speed Rail Authority Under Investigation

The beleaguered plan to build a bullet train to connect Northern California and Southern California suffered a public relations setback last month when it was revealed that a boardmember was under investigation for a conflict of interest.

October 13, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Red Carpet Lanes

Seattle on a Roll With New Bus Lanes

A new plan to upgrade an existing bus lane in Seattle isn't the first and it probably won't be the last.

October 13, 2019 - The Urbanist

Electric Bus

Lessons in Electric Bus Deployment From 6 U.S. Regions

U.S. cities and regions are both showing how electric buses can be done and taking too long to do it. A new report focuses on success stories.

October 13, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Converts HOV Lane to General Purpose Lane

Road planners looking to increase capacity without adding lanes are focusing on managing existing lanes more effectively. Massachusetts has gone the opposite direction. The Conservation Law Foundation plans to hold them accountable.

October 12, 2019 - Boston.com

Pedestrians

The Vision Zero Commitment in Prince George's County

The Maryland county is launching a traffic safety program, but much work and many changes are needed to eliminate traffic fatalities.

October 12, 2019 - Greater Greater Washington

Vancouver Planners Hope to Leverage New Subway for Public Benefit

Vancouver is scheduled to begin construction on a new subway in 2020, and planners are laying out a vision for the neighborhoods surrounding the new line, including turning Broadway into a "Great Street."

October 11, 2019 - Georgia Straight

Poor Returns for L.A.'s Transit on Demand Pilot

Similar to microtransit on demand programs in other cities, Los Angeles' ongoing experiment is proving to be very expensive (for the public) for the benefit of very few riders.

October 11, 2019 - Streetsblog LA

Bus Lane

A Whole Lane Devoted to Buses on Oakland, CA's Busiest Street

A bus-only lane on busy Broadway in Oakland, a section of the larger East Bay Bus Rapid Transit project, will get the red painted lane treatment.

October 11, 2019 - The Mercury News

Sound Transit

Seattle Fare Enforcement Disproportionately Punishes Blacks, Data Show

Sound Transit says its fare enforcement system is design to be unbiased, but analysis about fare evader data indicates disparities.

October 11, 2019 - The Seattle Times

Los Angeles Traffic - The Newhall Pass

A Detailed Map of the Nation's Auto Emissions

The New York Times illustrates the scope and scale of the great project still facing the United States: to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector of its economy.

October 11, 2019 - The New York Times

Vancouver, British Columbia

Resistance to Federal Highway Administration's Anti-Painted Crosswalk Position

As the Federal Highway Administration continues its anti-painted crosswalk crusade, attracting new attention at the national level, cities are resisting the notion that rainbow crosswalks are a safety liability.

October 11, 2019 - The New York Times

Elaine Chao

Kentucky Gets 25% of the Transportation Secretary's Time

When it comes to grants, one state has the attention of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao above all others.

October 10, 2019 - Politico

Downtown Seattle

Monorail Joins the Seattle Transit Network

The city's monorail has operated separately from other systems in the region, but now riders can pay fares using the ORCA cards that work for other transit systems in the region.

October 10, 2019 - The Urbanist

Enhanced Transit Corridors Plan

Federal Approval Clears Way for Bus-Only Lanes in Portland

Portland will soon be spreading out the red carpet for buses.

October 10, 2019 - BikePortland

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.