Transportation

You think your daily commute is bad? In one of the world's largest cities, a lack of citywide rapid transit means daily commutes of four hours for many Jakarta residents. Help is on the way, but conditions may get worse before they get better.

August 6, 2013 - The New York Times

Flush with revenue from higher gas taxes, Maryland is moving ahead with plans for a 16-mile light rail line connecting the state's dense D.C. suburbs. It's seeking a private partner to help it construct and operate the planned Purple Line.

August 6, 2013 - The Washington Post

Mayor Ignazio Marino of Rome has banned private vehicles from Via dei Fori Imperiali, built by Benito Mussolini to link his palace in Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Initially open to buses and taxis, it will eventually be completely pedestrianized.

August 6, 2013 - The New York Times - Europe

Two decades of phenomenal growth have transformed Nashville into 'one of America’s hottest success stories.' In an op-ed for The Tennessean, Bill Freeman argues that for the area to continue to grow wisely it will need to embrace regional planning.

August 5, 2013 - The Tennessean

A new exhibition of the bold designs that were never executed in Los Angeles provides lessons for today's leaders and planners. By imagining a more public-minded path for Los Angeles, it provides the impetus for creating such a future.

August 5, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Mexico City, Melbourne, and Vancouver are just some of the cities that have struggled to get citywide bike-sharing systems off the ground due to local laws mandating the use of bike helmets. A new helmet vending machine could help break the impasse.

August 5, 2013 - PSFK

BART commuters were undoubtedly delighted to board trains on Monday morning thanks to Gov. Jerry Brown's last minute action to return BART employees to work for one week while a panel investigates why negotiations have stalled.

August 5, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

London has always been a pedestrian-friendly city. But over the last decade the number of daily trips taken on foot in the city jumped by 12 percent, while walking declined nationwide. What explains the capital's pedestrian popularity?

August 5, 2013 - The Economist

While MTA’s East Side Access project, which will bring Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains directly to Grand Central Terminal by 2019, has received much attention, less well-know is a complementary plan to bring Metro-North trains to Penn Station.

August 5, 2013 - City & State

Though Connecticut is well served by commuter rail, a new report indicates that only half of the communities with Metro-North station have land use regulations in place to maximize development around them.

August 4, 2013 - The Hartford Courant

After incurring $4.8 billion in repair costs from superstorm Sandy, NY's MTA had a hard time buying insurance. It's utilizing an innovative tool - called a catastrophe bond - to help prepare financially for a damaging storm surge in the near future.

August 3, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Same drill, round two. After almost a month of apparently fruitless negotiations, the unions gave a 72-hour notice of going on strike. Unless an agreement is reached, 200,000 Bay Area rail riders will need to find alternatives for the Monday commute

August 2, 2013 - San Jose Mercury News

Discussion on increasing user fee revenue has centered on increasing and/or indexing the gas tax and applying VMT fees. Now some are pushing a return of the original user fee - road tolls applied by states or regions on interstate highways.

August 2, 2013 - Governing

This 16-minute radio interview of Forbes writer Micheline Maynard and Cornell urban planning professor Michael Manville explores how and why to redesign cities to make them less auto-dependent to match reduced driving.

August 1, 2013 - Here & Now

A controversial House bill that proposed drastic spending cuts to Transportation and Housing programs was pulled from the floor yesterday after Republicans balked at supporting the cuts outlined in Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget.

August 1, 2013 - The Hill

Ryan Holeywell writes a follow-up to the meeting of a House Transportation subcommittee on the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund - looking at it from the states' perspective rather than from Capitol Hill's. They have a lot at stake.

July 31, 2013 - Governing

Monorails, reinstating the 'commuter tax,' and a city takeover of the MTA are among the proposals being bandied about by the candidates vying to become New York City's next mayor. Just one problem: they're all pie in the sky, say observers.

July 31, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Police in the New Jersey town of Woodbury are going to extraordinary lengths to bust drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians.

July 30, 2013 - NJ.com

The half-mile circle has become the standard metric for focusing planning efforts and judging the impacts of transit-oriented development. A new study examines whether the half-mile circle is an effective predictor of TOD success.

July 30, 2013 - Access

For those who have embraced cycling for leisure or their daily commute, being comfortable biking at night in urban environs may be the final frontier. Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan offers some tips for navigating darkened streets in style and safety.

July 29, 2013 - Grist