Transportation

The first regional plan passed under landmark SB 375 requiring MPOs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has failed a key test. Environmental plaintiffs sued because transit investments were in the future. They won, forcing SANDAG to redo their plan.

December 5, 2012 - LA. Streetsblog

Voters in downtown Los Angeles have overwhelmingly approved a special property tax to help fund a $125 million streetcar. The results of the special vote-by-mail election were reported last night.

December 4, 2012 - Los Angeles Downtown News

Over the weekend, a 100-mile long traffic jam caused by snow, questionable decisions, and underinvestment on Soviet-era infrastructure, left 10,000 vehicles stranded on the M10 highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

December 4, 2012 - The New York Times

Induction charging, the same technology that allows you to juice up your cell phone without the need for cables, could be coming to a transit system near you. Could eliminating the need for catenary wires transform city streets?

December 4, 2012 - Wired

Transportation officials in the greater San Francisco area have been debating a proposal to provide free public transit for low-income youth. They are now considering the possibility of basing fares on income, rather than age or disability.

December 4, 2012 - San Francisco Examiner

Saying "no" to Walmart does not remove the wants and needs they exist to serve. If you want a more locally-oriented community, you need a more local-friendly system, says Scott Doyon.

December 4, 2012 - PlaceShakers

James Nash reports that Gov. Jerry Brown is turning to the $6 trillion market in sovereign wealth funds, pensions, and endowments to help fill the $55 billion gap between the project's total cost and what state bonds and federal grants will cover.

December 3, 2012 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

For those of you who've been anxiously waiting since Boyd Cohen published his list of Europe's smartest cities last month...wait no longer, North America's top 10 smartest cities have been revealed.

December 3, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Washington D.C. is embarking on the first update to its zoning code since 1958. In advance of consideration by the city's Zoning Commission next spring, controversy has erupted around - you guessed it - parking!

December 3, 2012 - The Washington Post

Data visualizations show the daily ebb and flow of public transit traffic in world's major cities.

December 2, 2012 - Wired

According to Chris Peck, “Better cycling infrastructure, an enforced road traffic law and a reduction in the space available to motor traffic are all required to get cycling growing again in London.”

December 2, 2012 - The Guardian (UK)

This week, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority made public its request for $5 billion in federal aid to rebuild what was damaged during Superstorm Sandy. But a look at the details reveals an ambitious agenda for improvements.

December 1, 2012 - The New York Times

As Britain confronts the silent epidemic of inactivity and obesity, Peter Walker examines how the invisible dangers of a sedentary lifestyle are compared to the more publicized risk of injury from activities designed to get people moving.

November 30, 2012 - The Guardian

Thanks to a $2 million federal grant, New Orleans is embarking on a study focused on improving the city's Claiborne Avenue corridor, which sits adjacent to an elevated stretch of Interstate 10. The project's public outreach effort begins next month.

November 30, 2012 - The Times-Picayune

Driverless cars, 'super elite" fliers, and more rail for everyone; these are among the predictions from experts for how travel in the United States will change over the next decade.

November 30, 2012 - CNN Travel

In the aftermath of controversial Mayor Rob Ford's ouster this week, architecture critic Christopher Hume looks at how Toronto's next mayor can begin to "deal with issues that matter."

November 29, 2012 - The Toronto Star

Yesterday, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) was named the new head of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, replacing former chair John Mica. With MAP-21 expiring in less than two years, what can rail and bike/ped advocates expect?

November 29, 2012 - DC.Streetsblog

Too much parking and too much transit creates a glut of unneeded parking. Of course, this is by design - that is, zoning design, where Downtown Brooklyn developers are required to accommodate new residents of their new buildings with large garages.

November 29, 2012 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Damien Newton reports on L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's creation of a Transit Corridors Cabinet (TCC) to coordinate the work of all City departments and agencies with the goal of producing a "more transit-oriented Los Angeles."

November 28, 2012 - Streetsblog LA

Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley tour the "otherwise nondescript brick building" on San Francisco's Mason Street that houses the machines running the "Endless Wire Ropeway" that hums beneath the city's streets and pulls its famous cable cars.

November 28, 2012 - The Atlantic