Transportation

Festivities Greet Weekend Opening of Tucson Sun Link Streetcar

$87.7 million in voter-approved funding, a $63 million TIGER grant, a $6 million New Starts grant, and $35.6 million in other regional and local funding built the Sun Link streetcar. A whole weekend of festivities will welcome its opening.

July 26, 2014 - Tucson Sentinel

Denver's Historic Union Station Gets Grand Opening Today

Called one of the most complex public works projects in Denver's history, Denver's new Union Station will lie at the center of a rapidly growing rail and transit network.

July 26, 2014 - KWGN

D.C. Metro's Silver Line Launches Passenger Service

After no small amount of debate, delay, and controversy, the first phase of D.C. Metro's Silver Line will launch passenger service today. The line will connect Washington D.C. to northwestern Virginia, including four stops in Tysons Corner.

July 26, 2014 - The Washington Post

Redesign for Seattle's Notoriously Unsafe 2nd Avenue Bike Lane

Seattle is hoping to transform the 2nd Avenue bike lane from the cities worst—location of 60 bike collisions in the last four years—to a demonstration of the state-of-the-art in bike infrastructure design.

July 25, 2014 - Crosscut

Phoenix Light Rail

Arizona Residents Ditching Cars, Taking Transit

A new report finds that residents of Arizona are driving less—much, much less. Arizonans drive less that they did in the 1990s, in fact. Despite these trends, the state government has not adjusted its traffic forecasting models.

July 25, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Funny Girl

Feel Like Singing? Here's 11 Transportation-Themed Show Tunes

NPR movie critic Bob Mondello gathered ditties from musicals inspired by the glory of transportation.

July 25, 2014 - NPR

Pending Financial Deal Would Expand Citi Bike in New York City

An agreement that would provide Citi Bike with a substantial capital investment—greatly expanding its geographic reach and number of bikes—is in final stages of negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

July 25, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Paris Metro Train

The Value of Fast Transit—Under Construction in Paris

The proposed Grand Paris Express program, which began construction this summer and is expected for completion in 2030, will serve 2 million people a day at "wildly fast speeds." Then there's light rail in the United States.

July 24, 2014 - the transport politic

Los Angeles City Planner Imparts Department Priorities

It will come as no surprise to those tracking the built environment in Los Angeles that City Planning currently faces a number of challenges.

July 24, 2014 - The Planning Report

FLV California train

Luck May Be Changing for California High Speed Rail

No, the debilitating lawsuits haven't been resolved, so the HSR Authority still can't tap the $10 billion in voter-approved bonds, but the new state budget based on cap-and-trade revenue for HSR is sparking inquiries from private investors.

July 24, 2014 - Inside Bay Area

Meet Dallas' New 'Bike Czar'

In an article for the Dallas Morning News, Tom Benning introduces Ashley Haire as the city of Dallas' new bike coordinator. Haire comes to the job of delivering more bicycle infrastructure to Dallas by way of Portland and TxDOT.

July 23, 2014 - Dallas Morning News

Oil and Rail Industries Agree to Phase Out Oldest Rail Oil Tank Cars

A deal may be near between energy and rail industries and the Department of Transportation to phase out the DOT-111 tank car—the same kind implicated in the horrific explosions of oil trains, particularly those carry Bakken crude from North Dakota.

July 23, 2014 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Google Self-Driving Car

Concerns Raised about Sprawl, Public Safety Implications of Autonomous Vehicles

A pair of articles sounds separate warnings about what a future of autonomous vehicles will mean for law enforcement and fuel consumption. The warnings are far from the utopian ideal that many desire for the technology.

July 23, 2014 - Bloomberg

Speed Cameras: Working in Chicago; Needed in Philadelphia

In Chicago, speed cameras are proving effective at reducing speeds; in Philadelphia, a police commissioner is lobbying the state to allow the implementation of the cameras.

July 22, 2014 - Chi.Streetsblog

Treasure Island's Big Mixed-Use Developments Bring Transportation Improvements

Located between San Francisco and the East Bay, with harrowing on- and off-ramps for ingress and egress to the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island will soon add 8,000 homes, 500 hotel rooms, and 550,000 square feet of offices.

July 22, 2014 - SFGate

Examining the Ottawa Cycling Plan for Lessons of Suburban Biking Success

An article by Nour Aoude begins with the premise: "Leaving suburbs out of the biking conversation risks turning biking into a privilege of the few who can afford to live in dense, downtown neighbourhoods."

July 22, 2014 - Global Site Plans

U.S. Traffic Engineering Manual Closer to Adopting Bike Design Features

Bicycle facilities, such as contraflow lanes, extensions of bike lanes through intersections, and bike boxes, inched toward official approval from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

July 22, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Cleveland Aerial

Cleveland Planning 'Iconic' Bridge to Connect Downtown and Lakefront

Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are pushing ahead with an ambitious plan for a pedestrian and bike connection between downtown Cleveland and the lakefront.

July 21, 2014 - The Plain Dealer

Seattle Voters To Be Put To Transit Test in November

Will a large city do what its county voters refused to do—fund the county bus system, though largely within city limits? Seattle voters will be put to the test in November when asked to pay an annual $60 vehicle fee and 0.1% sales tax.

July 20, 2014 - The Seattle Times

In Search of Clear Transit Platform Signs

Observation of a handful of transit platform sign styles from around the world on their clarity and usefulness.

July 20, 2014 - The Atlantic City Lab

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

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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.