Transportation

Now That It's Funded, is CA HSR Unstoppable?

TIME's senior national correspondent posits that once the first shovel begins digging int the Central Valley, the $68 billion project will be hard to stop, regardless of the fact that no federal funding awaits as long as the GOP controls the House.

July 12, 2012 - Time

A City Always in a Hurry, NYC Seeks to Slow Down

Matt Flegenheimer reports on Mayor Bloomberg's announcement this week that the city plans to expand its so-called neighborhood slow-zone program, which is aimed at reducing driving speeds in neighborhoods across town.

July 12, 2012 - The New York Times

D.C.'s Bikeshare Program a Boon to Local Stores

Martin Di Caro reports on the enthusiastic response that the bike rental program Capital Bikeshare has produced in D.C., and the significant changes it's sparked in the local culture and economy.

July 12, 2012 - WAMU

Should Cities Work to 'Gentrify' Their Bus Systems?

A recent article by Amanda Hess examines whether cities like Los Angeles should be "funneling serious resources" towards attracting discretionary commuters. The article has spurred significant debate.

July 11, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

How Well Does Mass Transit Serve America's Jobs?

For those seeking to diversify metropolitan mode shares, good news can be found in a report just published by the Brookings Institution: most urban jobs are near transit. Unfortunately, employees, for the most part, are not, reports Conor Dougherty.

July 11, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Diving into the Details: Map-21 and Alternative Transportation

Continuing his series examining the changes and new provisions detailed in the new federal surface transportation bill, Jason Jordan, APA's Director of Policy and Government Affairs, looks at the new Transportation Alternatives program.

July 10, 2012 - APA Policy News

CA Rail: Funded But With Nowhere To Go?

After a much heralded vote on July 6 in the state Senate, the embattled CA high-speed rail project is now eligible to receive $7.9 billion in state and federal funds, but formidable obstacles remain, not the least of which is finding $60 billion.

July 10, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Social Media Apps Put Ride Sharing on the Map

Ride share websites and mobile apps take the guesswork out of finding a ride and move social networking offline and onto the open road, fueling a revival of car-pooling, reports Mickey Meece.

July 10, 2012 - The New York Times

Delhi's BRT Battle Likely Headed to the Supreme Court

The fight to bring efficient public transit to the Indian capital in the form of a dedicated Bus Rapid Transit corridor may be headed for the country's Supreme Court, as the government fights the city’s wealthy, car-owning minority.

July 9, 2012 - The New York Times

Why LA is America's Transit Mecca

Award-wining author Taras Grescoe pens an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times in which he makes an argument that may surprise many Angelenos - that their city is at the cutting edge of forward-thinking transportation planning in the U.S.

July 9, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

'Bi-Partisan' Transportation Bill Now Law

President Obama signed the transportation bill known as MAP-21 on July 6 that also maintains low student loan rates, ending the three-year process of three-month extensions of SAFETEA-LU. He praised the bill as bipartisan and job-saving.

July 9, 2012 - The Hill's Transportation Blog

Guerrilla Traffic Calming Spreads in Southern California

Alexandria Abramian Mott spotlights several grassroots ways -- from signs to screams -- in which "fed-up residents are reclaiming their streets, or at least trying to."

July 9, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Nail-biter Vote In CA: State Senate Approves High Speed Rail

Without a vote to spare, the CA state senate voted to authorize $5.8 billion to begin construction in the Central Valley of the nation's first true HSR system. The assembly passed the bill earlier in the week.

July 7, 2012 - Capitol Alert (Sacramento Bee blog)

The Ugly Story Behind the New Transportation Bill

Willamette Week interviews U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon about the shenanigans going on behind-the-scenes of the newly-approved Transportation Bill.

July 6, 2012 - Willamette Week

Building a 'Slow' Streetcar to 'Speed' Development

A common criticism of streetcars are their relative slow speed combined with high capital and operating costs. Still, streetcars are being constructed in both large in small cities to help incentivize development.

July 6, 2012 - The Naked City

TIFIA Amount Increases & Eligibility Expands - Too Much?

In the coming days readers will learn more about America's new transportation funding plan MAP-21, which will guide surface transportation planning through 2014. In this piece, Tanya Snyder centers on changes to the popular TIFIA lending program.

July 5, 2012 - Steetsblog Capitol Hill

One of D.C.'s Largest Infrastructure Projects Gets the Go-Ahead

On Tuesday, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to support extending D.C.'s Metrorail to Dulles Airport, ending months of uncertainty over the project's fate.

July 4, 2012 - The Washington Post

What's Really Keeping Americans off of Transit?

Josh Barro offers his take on the charge, oft resorted to by transit advocates, that subsidies for road maintenance encourage driving. Instead, he argues, we should turn our attention to the mechanisms that make it hard for transit to compete.

July 3, 2012 - The Washington Examiner

Viral Video Gets MTA Response in a New York Minute

In response to widespread attention from one short video, MTA repair crews rushed to repair a faulty step at a subway station staircase in "perhaps the fastest response to a customer complaint in agency history," Matt Flegenheimer reports.

July 3, 2012 - The New York Times City Room Blog

IBM Engineers Tackle New Type of Traffic App

IBM put some of their expert engineers on loan for three weeks to the city of Boston to analyze current traffic data feeds (yes, this includes Twitter), resulting in new tools to help curb congestion.

July 3, 2012 - Gigaom

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.