Transportation
Atlanta and Suburbs to Hold Separate Transportation Sales Tax Votes in November
The 13 suburban cities of Fulton County agreed to a roads-only, .75-cent sales tax measure that needs to be approved by the county, while Atlanta voters will decide on a MARTA-only .50-cent sales tax. MARTA serves eight of the cities.
Playing 'Telephone' with Transportation Data
The transportation policy debate regularly falls victim to incorrect or incomplete "facts" getting passed around like the game of telephone.
Montreal Begins Demolition of Downtown Elevated Expressway
Montreal will include one less elevated highway—so long Bonaventure Expressway.
It's Time to 'Londonize' Bus Transit in the United States
Bike advocates have Copenhagen to provide a real-world case study of a multi-modal vision of the future. It's time bus advocates had their own exemplar.
$26 Million Civic Center Station Renovation Breaks Ground in Denver
Few cities in recent years have broadcast as many headlining transit investments as Denver. The renovation of a station handling 15,000 passengers a day is the latest.
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.
Coming in 2018: Direct Rail Connection Between Forth Worth and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport
Fort Worth residents will soon have a direct rail connection to the airport, similar to the one currently enjoyed by Dallas residents.
How Contributory Negligence Punishes Cyclists
In Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama, the legal policy known as contributory negligence blocks cyclists from claiming damages if they're involved in a crash.
Texans Against High-Speed Rail Begin to Flex Legal Muscle
Opposition to the Dallas-to-Houston private Texas Central high-speed rail line has gotten more serious with the creation of a defense fund to assist property owners in protecting their property rights. Texas Central plans to break ground next year.
One Solution to the Last-Mile Problem: 'Park-and-Pedals'
For a year, Boston has been developing a new kind of park-and-ride system: park-and-pedal. One commentator evaluates the idea as a nice halfway point between the first-mile and the last-mile.
Minnesota High-Speed Rail Passes Preliminary Test
The North American High Speed Rail Group has proposed an elevated, $4.2 billion, 150+ mph high-speed rail line above existing highways without public subsidy between Rochester and the Twin Cities. Completion is estimated for 2021.
Philadelphia Discovers the Difficulties of Restoring a Wood-Paved Street
A failed 2012 restoration of South Camac, meant to last five years, only made it until 2015. Now it will have to wait until 2017 to see the historic street paved in wood again.
Crowded NYC Sidewalks Force Commuters Into the Street
In the 1970s, the fear of getting mugged had some NYC pedestrians walking in the street. Nowadays, commuters are sharing space with cars for a very different reason: the sidewalks are too crowded.
#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.
2015 Road Toll: 35,200 Fatalities
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released preliminary fatality estimates for 2015. Deaths jumped by 2,525, an increase of 7.7 percent over 2014. Pedestrians and bicyclists saw the biggest increases.
California Initiative to Limit the Size of Revenue Bonds Qualifies for Ballot
A California initiative has been likened to the landmark Proposition 13 for how it would affect the budget and major projects proposed in California, including the $64 billion high-speed rail project and $17 billion Delta water tunnels.
SEPTA Forced to Take 120 Regional Trains Out of Service for Repairs
SEPTA commuters traveling to and from Delaware will spend the summer in transit gridlock, as 120 trains undergo necessary repairs to a serious structural flaw.
The Vision for a $120 Billion Public Transportation Revolution in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Metro's new Chief of Planning Therese McMillan joins the agency at a pivotal moment, as county voters will decide in November whether to approve a new, evergreen sales tax to fund future Metro public transportation expansion.
Rio Scrambles to Ready Subway Before Olympics
Beset by delays and financial problems, the state of Rio is having trouble completing a new subway line before the Olympics start a month from now. The time crunch may cut into time for testing, presaging problems in August.
Riding the Bus in Portland: An Essay
Blogger and transit consultant Jarrett Walker paints a picture of Portland's Line 75, a workaday bus serving urban neighborhoods outside downtown. His reflections on radial and orbital journeys are worth a read.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
