Transportation
When Is a Bus Lane Warranted?
Efficient and equitable urban roadway management favors higher value trips and more space-efficient modes over lower-value trips and space-intensive modes. This can justify bus lane networks in most major cities.
It's Patch Bill Time Again for Highway Funding
Though federal highway funding is set to terminate on July 31, the House has proposed an $8.1 billion, five-month extension instead of a six-year reauthorization bill.
Parking, Density, and Affordable Housing in California
A bill to reduce parking minimums for residential or mixed-use developments that include affordable units passed a key Senate committee. AB 744 amends the state's density bonus law, itself controversial, that incentivizes building affordable housing.
Study: Public Transit Provides Significant and Diverse Benefits
A new Mineta Transportation Institute study finds significant, measurable net benefits from U.S. public transit services.
Open Streets Events Enjoy Coast-to-Coast Popularity
New York City and San Jose have expanded or added rules that temporarily close some of their streets to automobile traffic. This continues a string of successes for the open streets movement.
New Mapping Tools Shows How to Access Activities by Various Modes
The Urban Accessibility Explorer is an easy-to-use mapping system that measures the number of activities that can be reached by residents of specified neighborhoods within a given amount of travel time, by a particular mode and time of day.
Miami-Dade Could Overhaul Governance of Transportation Projects
Recent controversies have inspired county and city officials in Miami-Dade County looking to overhaul the process by which transportation projects are planned, approved, and funded.
Enabling Travel Through Your Smartphone: Mobility as a Service
Imagine on your phone being able to wake up and with a simple click be able to arrange all of your transportation needs for the day. Soon your bus pass, carsharing pass, bikesharing pass, and your personal vehicle will go away—replaced by an app.
Charlotte Streetcar Opens Today
The 1.5-mile, $37 million segment of Charlotte's controversial new LYNX Gold streetcar line is set to open July 14. A former mayor, Anthony Foxx, is now the U.S. Transportation Secretary. A federal grant is paying 68 percent of construction costs.
Op-Ed: Airport Express Train Unnecessary in Chicago
Plans to construct a prestigious express line to O'Hare airport may be overkill. The existing Blue Line, which could benefit from some investment, already connects downtown Chicago and the airport.
10-Cent Fuel Tax Introduced by Conservative Republican
The basics of South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice's "Highway Trust Fund Certainty Act": Increase federal gas and diesel taxes by 10.1 cents in one year, index to inflation, and issue an income tax credit for $133.
Report: Construction, Management Problems Plague the D.C. Streetcar
The long-delayed D.C. Streetcar got some very bad news last week, when a panel of industry experts found evidence of construction mistakes that will severely impact the system's reliability.
Proposed Policy Would Cap Number of For-Hire Drivers
New York City is considering a cap on the number of new for-hire drivers (including transportation network companies) while the city studies the impact of for-hire vehicles on the city's congestion.
Richmond, Virginia Planning to Link Land Use Planning and Transit Investment
Richmond, Virginia is launching a planning study aimed at maximizing the benefits of a proposed bus rapid transit system connecting the city and its surrounding metropolitan area.
Placemeter Provides New Ways to Measure Traffic
In the ongoing quest to better measure the use of streets by all modes—a new tool could be a game changer for transportation engineers, planners, and advocates alike.
Cities Where Density Benefits Transportation Efficiency
A simple demonstration of one of the benefits of density.
California Gas Tax Increase Hits Partisan Impasse
SB 16, Sen. Jim Beall's transportation funding bill that would hike gas taxes by 10 cents, diesel taxes by 12, and increase other fees, is stuck in the Senate, lacking one vote to pass.
Honolulu Bill Would Open Entire City to Restrictive Parking Zones
This may be one of the more egalitarian parking measures proposed in any city in America: it enables the establishment of a residential parking permit district in any neighborhood in the city, requiring both residents and visitors to pay.
Big Ideas Behind the Proposed Overhaul of the Los Angeles Bus System
A newly released proposal for overhauling Metro bus service in Los Angeles includes innovative and controversial measures. Included is a new metric for measuring the success of bus lines.
Missouri Shows How Not to Expand Highways, Though Unintentionally
The Missouri Department of Transportation will adhere strictly to a "fix it" (as opposed to "fix-it-first") policy for the next five years, because there are no funds for roadway expansion.
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.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
