Transportation

Denver Street

Complete Streets Success on Denver's Brighton Boulevard

Traffic safety advocates are hoping that a $32 million street redesign project on Brighton Boulevard can provide a model for other wide arterials in the city.

October 3, 2019 - Denverite

Muni Bus Market Street

Trump Administration Suddenly Holding California to Higher Environmental Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to force the state of California to spend highway money on public transit, because of the environment.

October 3, 2019 - Eno Center for Transportation

Sound Transit train

Seattle Light Rail Expansion Brings Redevelopment Boom

The city’s Northgate Link extension has spurred development around the new stations, and one neighborhood is poised to change dramatically.

October 3, 2019 - The Urbanist

Light Rail Transit

All That Could Have Been: Transit Planning in Maryland

Maryland approved ambitious plans for public transit expansion around Baltimore in 2002, but almost none of it became a reality. With a new plan in the works, transit boosters assess the loss of a generation's worth of progress.

October 3, 2019 - Maryland Matters

Bike and Scooter SHare

Lyft App Offers Multimodal Travel Information

The app is expanding to include information about public transit and micromobility options as part of Lyft’s goal to make travel easier.

October 2, 2019 - CityLab

Interstate 95/395 reversible HOV lanes

Solo-Occupant Hybrid Vehicles Lose Access to Carpool Lanes

A change in federal law on Monday meant that over 16,000 Virginia motorists must double or triple-up when using carpool lanes in Virginia. Next month, electric vehicles will need three occupants to drive free on I-395 when HOV lanes become HOT.

October 2, 2019 - The Washington Post

Bay Area Rapid Transit

A $100 Billion Wishlist for Bay Area Transit

Project priorities for the Faster Bay Area ballot initiative, speculatively proposed for the November 2020 election, have not yet been specified. But BART's new general manager has ideas about the money could be spent.

October 2, 2019 - The Mercury News

Richmond, Virginia

Virginia Planning a Big Addition to Multi-Modal Trail System

The proposed Ashland to Petersburg Trail would build on the success of the Virginia Capital Trail.

October 2, 2019 - Greater Greater Washington

Rock Island Line

Another New Commuter Rail Station for Chicago's South Side Transit Deserts

A South Side Chicago neighborhood with a history of neglect and disinvestment will soon be adding a new train station on the regional commuter system.

October 2, 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Minneapolis Alternative Transportation

A Test Ride for Mobility Hubs

Offering multiple, non-automobile options for transportation in one place is the idea behind mobility hubs. The city of Minneapolis is now testing the concept at four locations.

October 1, 2019 - Star Tribune

Port of Oakland

Two New California Laws Take Aim at Pollution from Heavy-Duty Trucks

Trucks, which disproportionately contribute toward air pollution, will soon be subject to similar types of smog checks that apply to light-duty vehicles. A second bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom will spur movement toward cleaner alternatives.

October 1, 2019 - The Mercury News

Denver, Colorado

Plans to Expand I-25 Through Denver

Colorado transportation officials are making plans for a major overhaul of a five-mile stretch of Interstate 25, one of Colorado’s busiest highway corridors.

October 1, 2019 - The Denver Post

Manhattan Bus

What's the Right Price for Congestion Pricing in New York City?

On this episode of the price is right, a city of more than 8 million people tries to determine the most effective cost for driving in a dense part of its downtown.

October 1, 2019 - Fast Company

Pedestrian Mall

The Past and Future of Pedestrian Malls

Pedestrian malls, a common urban design goal of the 1960s and 1970s have so fallen out of fashion that failed examples from history are cited as boogeyman like "bridges to nowhere" and "big digs."

October 1, 2019 - Curbed

Virgin Trains USA

Doubts Raised About the Private Equity Firm Behind High-Speed Rail to Vegas

Trouble in the Desert? The sources quoted in this article by Bloomberg aren't betting on the success of a high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and San Bernardino County in California.

September 30, 2019 - Bloomberg

Virginia Interstate Widening Would Convert Free Lanes to Toll Lanes

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization is proposing a 45-mile network of high-occupancy toll lanes on I–64 that includes conversions of 16 miles of carpool and three miles of general-purpose lanes. No unpriced lanes would be added.

September 30, 2019 - The Virginian-Pilot

Seattle C.A.P.

I-5 Freeway Lid Plans Take Step Forward

A plan to build a cap over Interstate 5 in Downtown Seattle has taken a small but significant step forward.

September 30, 2019 - The Urbanist

New York City

Three Studies That Show Density Doesn't Determine Car Travel

Thirty years after a seminal study attempted to connect increased density with decreased automobile use, several new studies are raising doubts about that central assumption of contemporary planning.

September 30, 2019 - Fanis Grammenos

Chicago Commuter Rail

What's Hindering Regional Transportation in the U.S.?

Public transportation that serves regional areas makes sense, but the United States has been slow to pursue strategies and policies that foster these types of systems.

September 29, 2019 - the transport politic

Green Electricity for Lime Scooters

A new program that will incentivize scooter "juicers," the people who collect and charge electric scooters for a fee, to switch to green energy.

September 29, 2019 - CityLab

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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.