Transportation

Pedestrian Infrastructure

In Crosswalks, Public Art Meets Transportation

Colorful, engaging crosswalks aren’t the norm, but they’re popping up around the country. And while they aren’t in line with federal guidelines, they have transformed streets and intersections.

July 23, 2019 - NPR

New York MTA

Congressional Report on Transit Spending Stops Short of Accountability

Transit advocates were hoping the U.S. Government Accountability Office was finally going to expose the systematic failures of transit spending in the United States by comparing the practices of other countries.

July 23, 2019 - Government Accountability Office

Los Gatos, California

Public Opinion Differs on New Bay Area Road Diet

Some love it; some hate it: The main drag of Downtown Los Gatos, at the southern end of the South Bay Area, got a complete streets makeover.

July 23, 2019 - The Mercury News

Street Closure

Rethinking Downtown Streets in a Revitalizing Pittsburgh

With $5.2 billion of investment in the past 10 years, and another $3.5 billion in the development pipeline, Pittsburgh planning organizations are considering ways to rethink the streets of the city's downtown.

July 23, 2019 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Police

The Car-Centric World and the Ongoing Expansion of Police Powers

While cars are still equated with freedom of mobility and personal liberty, they've also offered courts the chance to expand police powers in the public realm, time and time again.

July 23, 2019 - The Atlantic

Captal Metro

Austin Mulling New Incentives for Transit Riders

A proposed pilot program would text six new types of transit ridership incentives in the city of Austin.

July 22, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Atlanta, Georgia

After a Bus Kills a Scooter Rider, Two Councilmembers Call for Complete Streets

No victim blaming or scooter shaming here. Two Atlanta politicians have responded to a recent tragedy by calling for more traffic safety improvements.

July 22, 2019 - WSB-TV - Atlanta

Benjamin FRanklin Parkway

A Complete Streets Building Spree in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has a busy schedule of complete streets projects in the works. The city has a goal of building 20 miles of protected bike lanes by 2020.

July 22, 2019 - City of Philadelphia

Autonomous Vehicle

Advocates Press for Harder Questions While Pittsburgh Experiments With Self-Driving Cars

Five self-driving car companies are currently operating in Pittsburgh, without much critical rigor in asking about the consequences of the technology to the city.

July 22, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority

Tampa's 'All for Transportation' Sales Tax Clears Post-Election Obstacles

The "All for Transportation" sales tax in Hillsborough County, Florida, survived a revolt and legal challenge from conservative county commissioners, despite earning 57 percent of the public vote.

July 21, 2019 - Tampa Bay Times

Public Transit Ridership

Transit Oriented Development Shifts Into High Gear Near BART Stations in the Bay Area

Transportation and land use are being considered together at a new scale in the Bay Area, as transit oriented development pops up next to BART stations all over the region.

July 21, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Downtown Milwaukee

Pedestrian Plan Takes Big Step Forward in Milwaukee

There is still political work to do, and questions to be answered about funding, but a new pedestrian plan for the city of Milwaukee has cleared a key council committee.

July 20, 2019 - Urban Milwaukee

BART Station

Opinion: Here’s Hoping the New BART Inspector General Can Help Get the Agency Back on Track

BART is a financial and operational mess, and its new inspector general has a slew of major issues to tackle.

July 20, 2019 - The Mercury News

Queens Transit Station

MTA's On-Time Performance in April the Best in Five Years

New York trains are running on time more often because of additional vacuum trains, according to the New York MTA.

July 20, 2019 - Crains New York Business

O'Hare Blue Line

The Great O'Hare Race (And its Discontents)

Four intrepid reporters from the Chicago Tribune raced to O'Hare International Airport by personal car, a ride-share, on CTA, and on Metra to decide which is fastest.

July 19, 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Illinois

Connect Transit in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois is Growing Ridership

Fixed route bus ridership in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois has gone up for 13 consecutive months.

July 19, 2019 - WGLT

Toronto Bus TTC

Toronto Could Give Buses and Streetcars Priority

In a shift away from subway expansions and upgrades, Toronto looks to improve the bus and streetcar systems.

July 19, 2019 - The Star

Electric Car Charging Stencil

More EV Charging Coming to San Francisco Private and Public Parking Facilities

To reach an ambitious net-zero target for transportation emissions in San Francisco, Mayor Breed and two supervisors introduced legislation to require large parking facilities provide electric vehicle charging for 10% of spaces.

July 19, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Green Bike Lane

Anti-Displacement Efforts and Green Infrastructure Signal Hope in Portland

The Living Cully coalition prioritizes the well-being of long term, lower-income residents with future-building revitalization projects.

July 19, 2019 - Next City

Amtrak Acela

Report Makes Business Case for Vancouver-to-Portland High Speed Rail

Washington State released a report detailing the business case for connecting Seattle to Portland and Vancouver by high-speed rail.

July 19, 2019 - Business in Vancouver

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.