Transportation

Plan to Revitalize Public Housing Stymied by NYC Parking Requirements

New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says that the city's own parking minimums are making it difficult to make public housing sites more mixed-use, mixed-income and financially sustainable.

October 17, 2011 - Streetsblog

Rewarding Bikes and Peds for Leaving Their Cars at Home

How is the City of London incentivizing bike and ped commuters for helping improve the air? There's an App for that.

October 17, 2011 - Fast Company

Fixing a "Psychological Moat" That Divides a City

South Carolina members of the Urban Land Institute met in Columbia, South Carolina to offer suggestions for overhauling Assembly Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that separates distinct areas of the urban core.

October 17, 2011 - The State

Reduced Toll Increase Continues NJ Bus Dead-Heading Problem

Because the Port Authority Bus Terminal lacks a garage, empty buses shuttle off to New Jersey for storage between the AM and PM commutes. The garage would have been funded by a higher toll, which NJ and NY governors rejected.

October 17, 2011 - NorthJersey.com

LaHood Calling it Quits After 2012?

At a recent press conference, ubiquitous Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters he'd leave his post at the end of Obama's first term.

October 16, 2011 - The Wall St. Journal

A "Healthy Capacity" for Transit Manufacturing Exists in NYC

Citing the shift in economic activity at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ginia Bellafonte makes a case for bringing transit manufacturing to this and similar areas of the city. Talent's not an issue, but financing always is.

October 16, 2011 - The New York Times

Atlanta Transportation Plans Ready for Votes

Which aspects of the regional transportation projects may underwhelm following months of compromise? Ariel Hart examines the plans, which serve both "mobility" and "political ends."

October 16, 2011 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Streamlined Tappan Zee Bridge Rebuild Approved By U.S.

The federal government approved a streamlined process to expedite the bridge's replacement. Key would be to remove transit plans for the new bridge, thus keeping costs down, but that has raised questions about not providing alternatives to driving.

October 15, 2011 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Public Transit Required for Chicago City Employees

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has mandated that city employees on the clock be required to ride Chicago Transit trains and buses, with a few exceptions, in order to get reimbursed. BJ Lutz reports.

October 15, 2011 - NBC Chicago

The Subway of the Future, Next Year

Communications Based Train Control (CBCT) will allow New York City's subways to run more efficiently than ever. But like with all service improvements, implementation will take some time and patience, write Josef Szende and Charles Komanoff.

October 15, 2011 - Streetsblog

'Mythbusters' Solve Car vs. Motorcycle Myth

In a recent episode of The Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters," hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman concluded that cars are a greener mode of transportation than motorcycles.

October 14, 2011 - The New York Times

São Paulo's "Big Worm" Needs to Flatten

At least, according to the city's urban planners. The two-mile elevated highway is a hindrance, reports Juan Forero, to the city's modernization.

October 14, 2011 - The Washington Post

Richard Florida Examines Walkscore's Top Ten Cities

Richard Florida digests Walkscore's Walkability rankings, and discusses some surprising results. Among the top ten are Union City, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida.

October 13, 2011 - The Atlantic

Post-Katrina, New Orleans Rebuilds With Cyclists in Mind

Before Katrina, New Orleans was unfriendly and unpopular for cyclists. Today, the city has 15 streets with bike lanes totaling 40 miles of bike pathway, and is gunning to be as bike-friendly as Portland or Seattle.

October 13, 2011 - Associated Press

Healthy Travel Modes: Correlations, Causality and Caution

Driving makes people fatter and less healthy, right? Fanis Grammenos warns planners and urban designers that the answer is not so simple, and misusing the statistics will weaken effective debate.

October 13, 2011 - Fanis Grammenos

New Cycling Initiatives in Ukraine

The city of Lviv in western Ukraine has begun a 9-year initiative to build 168 miles of bicycling infrastructure to the region.

October 13, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

The City of the Future (Will Require the Necessary Infrastructure), Today

While some may be disappointed by how cities aren't yet swarming with robots and automated cars, Frank Swain writes that it's a matter of when we humans can tailor our landscapes to enable the new technology.

October 13, 2011 - Slate

Eliminating the Dreaded Left Turn

The FHWA says that 40% of all traffic accidents happen at intersections, and many of those are caused by left turns. A new type of intersection called the "diverging diamond" takes left turns out of the picture.

October 12, 2011 - Slate

UC Researchers Conclude It Was A Mistake To End Hybrid HOV Privilege

On July 1, 85,000 hybrid vehicles in CA bearing clean-air stickers lost the privilege to drive solo in the carpool lane. UC Berkeley researchers show how that exclusion slowed speeds in the HOV lane while increasing congestion in the adjacent lanes.

October 12, 2011 - San Francisco Chronicle

TOD Landmark Still Can't Get People Out of Their Cars

Ten years ago, Orenco Station outside Portland, Oregon was the model New Urbanist, transit-oriented development community. And while the project has had great success in creating community, it still hasn't lured commuters out of their cars.

October 12, 2011 - The Atlantic Cities

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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.