Transportation

Toronto

Toronto City Council Decides to Rebuild Gardiner East Expressway

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The Toronto City Council sided with Mayor John Tory this week to rebuild an elevated freeway in downtown rather than tearing it down.

June 12, 2015 - Toronto Star

Road Diet in the Works

24 Road Diet Case Studies from the U.S. Department of Transportation

Following a "Mayors Challenge" for bike safety by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently released a "Road Diets" report, providing a geographical diverse collection of case studies.

June 12, 2015 - Publicola

San Francisco to Prohibit Cars From Turning Onto Market Street

The Safer Market Street project is one of a package of traffic safety projects underway in San Francisco to achieve a Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

June 12, 2015 - SFGate

Bikelash is Back: Citi Bike Expansion Upsets Upper West Side Residents

The more things change, the more things stay the same. The latest installment of New Yorkers afraid of bike infrastructure has erupted in response to a proposed expansion of Citi Bike into the Upper West Side.

June 12, 2015 - New York Post

The Anatomy of Cincinnati's $1 Billion Highway Project

The Cincinnati State viaduct, as Urban Cincy calls the project, would reconstruct a series of ramps and interchanges where I-74 and I-75 meet near Mill Creek.

June 11, 2015 - UrbanCincy

Report: How Did Reagan More than Double the Gas Tax in 1982?

A new report by the Eno Center for Transportation looks at the landmark five cent gas tax increase of 1982, more than doubling the existing tax, and explores its relevance to today's federal transportation funding crisis.

June 11, 2015 - Eno Center for Transportation

Salt Lake City Region Targets Transit, Bikes in New 25-Year Strategic Plan

With the population of Utah expected to double in the next 25 years, a new regional transportation plan focuses on alternative transportation to achieve air quality benefits.

June 10, 2015 - Deseret News

Toronto's Gardiner Expressway: Green Light for Removal This Week?

Toronto City Council votes on June 10 whether to remove or rebuild the Gardiner Expressway East.

June 10, 2015 - PlaceShakers

$60.2 Million Complete Streets Makeover Planned for MLK Drive in Atlanta

Invest Atlanta has announced a plan to finance a complete streets project for a 7.2-mile stretch of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

June 9, 2015 - SaportaReport

Insurance Regulations Threaten Buffalo's Affordable Car Share Program

The $200,000 non-profit Buffalo CarShare program offer people living in poverty a low-cost option for short-term rentals of cars. Despite state support for the program, state insurance regulations might end it.

June 9, 2015 - Governing

Questions About Operations of Cincinnati's Streetcar Still Need to Be Answered

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has been busy negotiating with bidders regarding the potential operations of the forthcoming Cincinnati streetcar.

June 8, 2015 - Cincinnati Business Courier

High-Occupancy Toll Lanes on the Table for I-66 Inside the Beltway

The Virginia Department of Transportation is underway with public outreach on a proposed project to add HOT lanes on 1-66 inside the Beltway.

June 8, 2015 - The Washington Post

The Partisan Transit Divide

It's not quite as simple as Republicans opposing transit and Democrats supporting it. It depends what level of government is discussing it. On the local level, demand for better transit can transcend partisan divides.

June 8, 2015 - Roll Call

Bus Stop Winter

People Still Want Buses, But Buses Aren't Delivering

Urban light rail has enjoyed a renaissance since the Great Recession, but during the same period cities have quietly reduced bus service. Daniel Hertz argues that while rail is commendable, buses remain a vital transit component.

June 8, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

The Exorbitant External Costs Caused by the Trucking Industry

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office places the spotlight on the trucking industry in terms of the social, health ,and environmental costs it imposes on society but does not pay for, i.e., externalities.

June 8, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

The States Leading the Adoption of Electric Vehicles

A report from Navigant Research projects the growth of the domestic markets for plug-in electric vehicles. Spoiler: California dominates the list.

June 7, 2015 - Route 50

$3 Million for Bike Stations Backs Up SEPTA's Bike Planning Efforts

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) recently released the budget that will back up the components of its first ever bike plan: the SEPTA Cycle-Transit Plan, released in April 2015.

June 7, 2015 - Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

Kids Crossing the Street

Op-Ed: Los Angeles Walkability Needs More Crosswalks

Although Los Angeles isn't famous for its walking culture, many neighborhoods are actually quite suited for it. That is, if streets could be made friendlier to the pedestrians they currently repel.

June 5, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Hummer and Prius

How Much More Damage to Roads is Caused by a Hummer Than a Prius?

A Hummer weighs 2.6 times more than a Prius C, so it must contribute that much more to road wear, right? Actually, that's wrong, not even close. To understand the main cause of road wear, one must look at heavy, not light trucks.

June 5, 2015 - OReGO Communications

Transportation Reauthorization Showdown Likely on Capitol Hill

With the current two-month transportation patch set to expire July 31, Democrat leaders are hankering for a showdown to secure a six-year reauthorization bill. A confrontation may occur with Republicans who prefer another patch.

June 5, 2015 - Politico

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.