Transportation
CEQA and High-Speed Rail Foes Dealt Setback by Federal Board
Faced with seven CEQA lawsuits from rail opponents threatening to delay the high-speed rail project, the California High-Speed Rail Authority sought preemption of the California environmental law. The Surface Transportation Board agreed.
Public Transit Increases Safety, Reduces Crime
Public transport is overall very safe (low crash rate) and secure (low crime rate). However, experts seldom promote transit as a traffic safety strategy, and advocates seldom emphasize safety as a transit benefit. It's time for a new narrative.
Uber Expands to Lower-Density Florida Coastline Despite Controversies
The popular ride share service Uber launched service in Brevard County, Florida last week, a sign that the company is not putting the brakes on growth while it confronts difficult issues.
Parisian Traffic, Air Pollution Reduction Plan Caught on Political Snag
Parisian clean air politics turn out to be something of a class issue, even for a socialist mayor. The plans are seen as penalizing low income Parisians while benefiting elitist city dwellers who dislike traffic, overshadowing public health benefits.
Urban Mobility Plans Key To More Efficient and Integrated Planning
"Urban Mobility Plans – National Approaches and Local Practice," a new guidebook by the Sustainable Urban Transportation Project, describes specific policies and planning practices to maximize urban transport system efficiency.
Bus Rapid Transit Key To Improving Urban Transport in India
Buses are the backbone of urban mobility in India. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is the key to creating efficient and attractive bus services that attract increasingly affluent residents.
Federal Spending Bill Passes—TIGER Trimmed But Still Alive
With most of its funding intact for 2014, and a proposed ban on funding for active transportation projects off the table, fans of TIGER grants can take a deep breath.
Audit Finds Room for Improvement on Management of Citi Bike
The office of New York Comptroller Scott Stringer has performed an audit of New York City Bike Share's contract with the New York City Department of Transportation. The audit finds poor oversight and maintenance of the Citi Bike system.
$188 Million ARTIC Transit Hub Opens in Anaheim
The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center opened earlier in December. Although planners expect 10,000 daily boardings at the hub, the big payoff will come if a high speed rail and a streetcar find their way to the station.
After Keystone Delay, Enviros Challenge Other Pipelines
After successfully stalling the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport tar sands crude from Alberta to Gulf area refineries, environmental activists are targeting other proposed pipelines, although the result may be more crude-by-rail shipments.
Study: Passenger Vehicle Fleet is Older and More Polluting
Arguably just as important than the sales of new vehicles, e.g., hybrids and EVs, are the consequences of not buying new cars.
Controversial Speed Camera Program for School Zones Likely to Be Repealed
A speed camera program near school zones in Nassau County on Long Island provides a cautionary tale about the limits of surveillance and fines in curbing speeding.
A Map of Worldwide Speed Limits
Do you have a need for speed? Or at least a need to know the speed limit anywhere in the world? Greater Greater Washington has just the map for you.
Bicycle Plan Leads to Parking Policy Questions in St. Paul
St. Paul is in the community engagement stage of a bike planning process expected to culminate early next year. Among the bike plan's proposals, none have sparked as much controversy as a downtown loop that would remove street parking.
Tough Week for Uber on the West Coast—Three Cities File Injunctions
Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland all filed suit against Uber recently hoping to bring the transportation network company in conformity with public safety regulations.
Compare the Scale of U.S. Streetcar Systems
Everyone likes a little friendly competition—in this case a Greater Greater Washington post does a side-by-side comparison of all the active streetcar systems in the United States.
Republican Governors, Encouraged by Low Gas Prices, to Raise Gas Taxes
While there may never be a good time to increase the federal gas tax, the same is not true when it comes to state gas taxes—perhaps because governors can't transfer billions of dollars from general funds to pay for roads. Lower gas prices helps.
1100-Mile High Speed Rail Route Opens in China—Equivalent to Los Angeles to Seattle
China opened 32(!) new high speed rail routes this week, including a connection between Shanghai and Guanzhou equivalent to a trip between Los Angeles and Seattle.
Calgary: Model of Transit and Automobile Planning Success
Yonah Freemark writes about the remarkable success of the boomtown of Calgary, Alberta—a city described as "a lot more like Dallas or Phoenix than Copenhagen."
Five Things You Need to Know About E-Bikes—An Urban Transportation Paradigm Shift
When you have a small electric motor, a battery, and a throttle on your bicycle, it becomes very difficult to make any more excuses. Here's why...
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.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
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
