Transportation
Transit, Biking and Walking are Big Winners in Pennsylvania Gas Tax Increase
Gas tax increases can mean more road funding, period, particularly where constitutional restrictions prohibit spending gas tax revenues on other modes, as exists in Pa.; yet all modes will benefit from the 28-cent gas tax increase legislation.
Mythbusting: Exposing Half-Truths That Support Automobile Dependency
Some commentators recently expressed outraged that governments spend money on cycling facilities. Their arguments are largely wrong, I’ll call them "half-truths" to be charitable, presented with great certitude and self-righteous anger.
Detroit Considers Highway Removal to Help Its Downtown Revival
By exploring whether to turn I-375 into a surface street, the city that is the United States' foremost exemplar of suburban flight is considering a historic reversal that would demonstrate its optimism in its recovering downtown.
Plan for Nation's Largest BRT Network Approved for Suburban D.C.
This week, the Montgomery County Council approved an ambitious, but controversial, plan to create a 10-route, 81-mile Bus Rapid Transit network in D.C.'s northern suburbs to meet the area's mobility needs and support its sustainable growth.
Another Attempt to Toll the East River Bridges
The bridges over the East and Harlem Rivers, unlike other bridges and tunnels in the region, operate without tolls. Transit advocate Sam Schwartz has proposed a plan to toll them and apply revenues to fund transit and upgrade roads and bridges.
Seattle DOT to Head in a Different Direction
A change in mayoral administrations means a change at the top of Seattle's Department of Transportation. After almost four years, Peter Hahn will make way for a new director. Lynn Thompson examines his accomplishments and hints at what may be ahead.
Ten Billion Dollar Tally for Fixing S.F.'s Transportation Infrastructure
What would $10.1 billion in transportation-directed funding buy San Francisco? Not as much as you might think. That's what a Task Force has determined it will take to modernize the city's existing infrastructure.
Will Washington State Be Next to Increase its Gas Tax?
With Pa.'s Republican governor signing a dramatic gas tax increase bill on Monday, will Washington state follow in their footsteps in forging a bipartisan deal between the Republicans who control the Senate and the Democrat majority in the House?
Cities Pursue Different Paths to One Goal: Safer Streets
In the face of rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, the District of Columbia's police department began deploying automated photo enforcement technologies while San Francisco took a multi-agency, collaborative planning approach.
Has CA's High-Speed Rail Been Dealt a Mortal Blow?
In issuing two stinging decisions on Monday, a superior court judge has erected significant obstacles to the construction of California's high-speed rail project. His invalidation of the project's financing plan has put its future in doubt.
This is Your Brain on Cars
Paul Salopek is embarking on a 21,000-mile, 7-year stroll around the world. After traversing 1,700 miles, his most profound insights focus on the impact of the century-old automotive revolution on our psyche - what he calls "Car Brain".
Cyclist Deaths Beg the Question: "Who is the City For?"
A spate of recent cyclist deaths on London's streets brings the conflict between road users into high relief. Sam Jacobs argues that "brute engineering" alone isn't enough to resolve the conflict, we need to utilize intelligence and creativity.
Boston’s Big Dig Could be Model for Toronto
As Toronto contemplates the future of its crumbling Gardiner Expressway, columnist Christopher Hume suggests looking to Boston’s Greenway for a glimpse of what downtown might be like without the elevated eyesore.
College Towns Provide a Master Class in Bike-Friendliness
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that college towns are even better at encouraging bicycle commuting than the most notable big cities (Portland, Seattle, etc); even when excluding commuting for school. What's their secret?
12 Bold and Bizarre Visions for Cities
There's no shortage of bold and bizarre ideas for how to make our future cities more livable, sustainable, and efficient. Whether many of these ideas are feasible is another story.
Do You Know What Year the U.S. Hit Peak Gasoline Consumption?
Michael Sivak of the Univ. of Michigan has published another key report documenting our waning love affair with the automobile. Sivak documents peak overall gasoline consumption occurring in 2004. Per capita fuel consumption may have peaked in 2003.
Could Property Owners Sue if Cincinnati Cancels its Streetcar?
The cancellation of Cincinnati's under-construction streetcar became a real possibility this month with the election of Mayor John Cranley. Could property owners and businesses who expected a boost from its arrival sue if it's cancelled?
California Ballot Measure Will Propose New Fee to Fund Roads
Would you be willing to increase the annual license fee you pay on your vehicle if the funds were to go to road repair and expansion? That's the question Californians will be asked to decide if the Road Repairs Act qualifies for the Nov. 2014 ballot.
Super Sharrows: "Feel of a Bike Lane" or Wasted Paint?
New "sharrows on steroids" are being tested In the Allston neighborhood of Boston. Are the markings - parallel dashed lines bracketing a bicycle icon - a legitimate improvement on the controversial practice or "an underwhelming innovation"?
Will Amtrak Bend to Bow Wow Lobbying?
Rep. Michael G. Grimm has introduced what may be this legislative season's most unobjectionable, and adorable, bill: the Pets on Trains Act of 2013.
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.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
