Transportation
Smarter Congestion Solutions in 2014
It is time to find better solutions to congestion problems. This requires more comprehensive evaluation in order to identify win-win solutions: the congestion reduction strategies that help achieve other planning objectives.
Why is Cycling More Dangerous in the States?
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals why Americans don't use the healthiest, cleanest form of transportation. Hint: it has to do with the frequent injuries we're trying to avoid.
Houston Celebrates Opening of METRORail North
Houston's METRORail will triple in size next year, going from 7 to 22 miles. METRO Chairman Gilbert Garcia enthusiastically describes the new 5.3-mile North Line extension and last week's celebration to open it. Two new lines will open next year.
Chinese Cities Consider Congestion Pricing
Air pollution and traffic are choking China's largest cities: a recent conference reveals that officials are looking to solve these twin transportation problems with economics.
5 Reasons Copenhagen is the EU's Green Capital
Next month, Copenhagen starts its year as European Green Capital. We run down five of the reasons it won the title -- with no references to cycling or Jan Gehl.
Friday Funny: Pee Odor in Transit Elevator Got You Down?
This abbreviation may be coming to other transit elevators if it proves its snuff in Atlanta: UDD, short for Urine Detection Device. The sensors and the camera will force offenders to find appropriate places to relieve themselves, or risk arrest.
Salt Lake City Suffers Streetcar Setback
After more than a decade of rail successes, the city that leads the nation in per-capita transit spending has experienced a transit setback. Early data for Salt Lake City's first streetcar line indicates much lower-than-expected ridership.
L.A. Police Prioritize Penalizing Pedestrians
By expanding its transit and cycling infrastructure and creating pedestrian-friendly streets, L.A. is improving access to alternative forms of transportation. But in the city's most walkable area, police are out to prove the car is still king.
Replace the Gas Tax with a "Ton-Mile Fee"
As we inexorably approach the day the Highway Trust Fund goes broke, more policy experts offer creative alternatives to the per gallon gasoline tax. Michael Webber of the Energy Institute at UT Austin describes his option in a New York Times op-ed.
Holiday Spirit Invades Paris Metro
During the holiday season, cities go to great lengths to turn their streets, homes and businesses into festive places. But underneath the streets, subways tend to look to same day in and day out. French artists have brought the holidays underground.
Icelandic "Elf Lobby" Tries to Halt Highway Project
Concerned that a proposed highway from the Alftanes peninsula to the Reykjavik suburbs will disturb Icelandic elf habitat, an elf lobbying group is joining forces with environmentalists to try to stop the project.
Will L.A.'s "Less is More" Approach to Station Design be a Bore?
After 25 years of scattershot station design, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is bringing rationality and consistency to the design of three new rail projects. A "kit of parts" has been designed by Johnson Fain.
When Driving Wanes, Local Economies Gain
Want to boost your local economy and produce significant environmental dividends at the same time? Just drive one mile less per day says a new report from CEOs for Cities.
Applauding the Bus: Transit's Unsexy Workhorse
Though new streetcars, light rail, and subway projects get much of the attention, the lowly bus does most of the heavy public transit lifting across the U.S. Even in rail-heavy cities like Philadelphia and Chicago, bus ridership exceeds trains.
8 Fat Cats Who Can Fund L.A.'s 'Great Streets' Initiative
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's "Great Streets" plan is long on vision, but short on budget details. Terry Sweeney identifies some wealthy locals who should be called on for help.
The Politics of Lane Closures: GW Bridge-Gate
The unannounced lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in early September have brought down two Port Authority directors and now hold serious implications for popular N.J. Gov. Chris Christie (R), thought to be a 2016 presidential candidate.
2013 Started a New Chapter in L.A.'s Story
Will 2013 be remembered as the year that Los Angeles embraced a new urban identity? Cultural, political, and planning and design-related events over the past year seem to suggest the city is experiencing "an urban reawakening".
D.C. Metro's Plan to Relieve Congestion: Focus on Existing Network
In what might be viewed as a transit version of "fix-it-first", Metro will focus on alleviating congestion within the existing system rather than pursue costly regional expansions. Plans for ten new stations and a new tunnel are being considered.
SEPTA Plans How to Spend Gas Tax Windfall
With a transformative transportation law now on the books, Pennsylvania's largest transit system has turned from planning for "doomsday" to "payday" as it decides how to allocate a twofold increase in capital spending.
California's Infrastructure Advocate Champions Fourth Funding Option
Will Kempton, former Caltrans chief under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who subsequently headed the Orange County Transportation Authority, now heads Transportation California which has proposed an initiative to tax vehicles to fund infrastructure.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
