Transportation

Paris Aerial

Paris Plans to Adopt Citywide Slow Speed Zone

A blog post by Eric Britton covers Mayor Madame Anne Hidalgo's plans to adopt a 30 kilometer per hour (approximately 20 miles per hour) maximum speed limit in Paris.

May 23, 2014 - World Streets

Montreal Will Turn Two Residential Streets Into Cycle Streets

In Montreal, the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough unveiled an ambitious plan to make streets safer for people on foot and bikes by securing pedestrian crossings, and creating new bike paths as well as two "cycle streets" — where bikes have priority.

May 23, 2014 - The Gazette

In Search of the Right Fit for Bus Stops on Virginia's Columbia Pike

A controversy over the "million-dollar bus stop" in Arlington prompted one writer to examine the size and scale of bus stops. It's a cost consideration that can determine the choice, in some cases, between bus rapid transit and streetcars.

May 23, 2014 - Greater Greater Washington

Amsterdam Electric Car

An Electric Car the CEO Doesn't Want You to Buy

Please, don't buy the Fiat 500 E, stated Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne during his presentation on a Brookings panel on May 20. It's not because it's a bad car—it's because his company loses $14,000 on every sale.

May 23, 2014 - The Detroit News

DIY Bus Company Delivers Badly Needed Transit Service in Detroit

NationSwell tells the story of the Detroit Bus Company, which provides free transit services to neighborhoods in need around Detroit.

May 22, 2014 - NationSwell

Metro Subway Los Angeles

$2.1 Billion in Federal Transit Funding for the 'Subway to the Sea' in Los Angeles

Los Angeles will receive its largest-ever federal grant, $1.25 billion, to help fund the Purple Line subway, aka the "Subway to the Sea." Also on its way is an $856 million loan from the TIFIA program.

May 22, 2014 - Los Angeles Daily News

New TxDOT Head Will Focus on Traffic Safety, Alternative Modes

The Texas Transportation Commission's choice to run the Texas Department of Transportation is a former Marine Corps lieutenant general with a progressive take on the state's transportation challenges.

May 22, 2014 - Dallas Morning News

Pedestrian Danger

'Dangerous by Design' Paints Bleak Portrait of Pedestrian Safety

A report by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition ranked the danger to pedestrians in metro areas around the country. The report finds the metro areas of the Sun Belt are the least safe to be the least safe places to walk.

May 22, 2014 - CityLab

Vancouver Skytrain near Chinatown

Evaluating Public Transport Funding Options

Many jurisdictions need additional funding to improve, or just maintain, their public transport services. A timely new study evaluates eighteen potential funding options according to eight criteria.

May 21, 2014 - Todd Litman

Why Aren't Bike and Pedestrian Activists Teaming with Urbanists?

A new benchmarking report on biking and walking reveals a big hole in this growing movement — many ped-bike advocates rarely talk to urbanists, and vice-versa.

May 21, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

First State Legislature to Regulate Uber and Lyft: Colorado

Ivan Moreno reports for the Associated Press on the Colorado Legislature's approval of a bill to regulate transportation network companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar.

May 21, 2014 - AP via Denver Post

Vote for America's 'Least Crossable Streets'

We were told to look both ways before crossing the street—not walk two miles, uphill both ways, in the snow before crossing the street.

May 21, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Think Lead Was Removed from Fuel? Think Again!

Leaded gasoline is still sold in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, and Yemen. Most think that the brain-damaging additive was banned in the U.S in 1995, but not for 167,000 piston-engined aircraft that use leaded aviation fuel.

May 21, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago El

High Profile Opposition to Chicago Transit Authority's Flyover Project

A Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic invokes the most influential planning battles in the country's history in critiquing the proposed Red-Purple Bypass Project sought by the Chicago Transit Authority and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

May 20, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Mileage Fees Make Inroads in California and Michigan

Vehicle-miles-traveled fees made inroads with a potential "no-fee" pilot program in California and a new academic study in Michigan concluding that the state should adopt them. VMT fees may even get some attention in the MAP-21 Reauthorization.

May 20, 2014 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

$1 Billion Port of Miami Tunnel Opens for Business

Florida Governor Rick Scott dedicated a new tunnel under the Port of Miami today. Thirty years in the making, the tunnel is one of the most expensive and elaborate transportation projects in South Florida history.

May 19, 2014 - Miami Herald

Transportation Reauthorization Bill Breezes Past First Committee

Receiving a resounding vote of confidence from the Environment and Public Works Committee, the $265 billion, six-year MAP-21 reauthorization bill advanced on its path to keep federal transportation payments going to states through the summer.

May 19, 2014 - The Hill

A bride and groom riding on citi bikes in New York

The Case Against Bike Helmets

Should helmets be an optional accessory, rather than an absolute requirement? Or are helmets a sign of a culture not yet ready to embrace biking as a normal, safe activity?

May 19, 2014 - Vox

Missouri Legislators Vote to Cut Income Tax, Raise Sales Tax for Transportation

After voting to override Governor Jay Nixon's veto of an income tax cut, legislators agreed to allow voters to determine whether to increase the state sales tax by .75% in November for ten years to increase funding for transportation programs.

May 18, 2014 - Columbia Daily Tribune

Dispersing Transit Commutes with Financial Incentives and Data

Urban Engines uses real-time transit data, and raffles, to encourage transit riders to commute during non-peak hours.

May 18, 2014 - CityLab

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.