Transportation

California High Speed Rail 'Plan B' Pushed In State Senate

The alternative plan directs a sizable percentage of the initial $6 billion allocation to the Bay and LA regions to upgrade existing commuter lines at the expense of greater investment in the Central Valley. Funding plan may be determined by July 6.

July 2, 2012 - California Watch

Train On Wheels: L.A.'s Unsung Transit Success

Should Los Angeles be investing more in bus-rapid transit?

July 2, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

The Future is Here: Behold the Flying Bike

As GOOD's Sammy Roth notes, it's pretty impractical. But the Czech-based DesignYourDreams has pioneered a working model. (VIDEO)

July 1, 2012 - Good

The Incredible, Deficit-Reducing Transportation Bill

Just how does a transportation bill that doesn't increase fuel taxes or introduce new user charges, and maintain the same level of spending reduce the deficit by $16.3 billion? Ask the Congressional Budget Office.

July 1, 2012 - Taxpayers For Common Sense

What Does the Final Federal Bill Mean for Transportation Reform?

At long last, after more than a thousand days of politicking, Congress passed a comprehensive federal transportation funding bill on Friday. Transportation reform advocates are disappointed by the results.

June 30, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

Filmmaker Shows New Yorkers Tripping on Subway Step - Over and Over

Filmmaker Dean Petersen noticed a troublesome step at the 36th Street subway exit in Brooklyn, and decided to find out how many people tripped over it. Video evidence shows this hazard in action.

June 29, 2012 - Boing Boing

Oklahoma Tribal Nations Help Fund U.S. Roads

Often downplayed of their role in both planning efforts and in the economy, tribal governments are working collaboratively with other local governments in Oklahoma to help build and maintain roads.

June 29, 2012 - Tulsa World

Innovative Map Shows Estimated Time of Arrival for Entire Regions

Want to know how long it will take to pick up the kids at school, drive to your favorite restaurant, drive the baseball game, take the bus to the park? And all at once? Trulia's new innovative map does just that.

June 29, 2012 - Fast Company

Transit in Demand: US DOT Can't Keep Up With Requests

On Friday, the US DOT awarded TIGER 2012 funds to 47 projects totaling $500 million -- far less than the $10.2 billion that was asked for from an astounding 703 applications from all 50 states.

June 28, 2012 - Transportation Nation

The Future of Transit, According to France

Yonah Freemark investigates France's new love affair with the tram, which is spreading like wildfire in cities across the country, supplanting major bus routes and giving transit ridership a healthy boost in the process.

June 27, 2012 - Next American City

Solving the "Bus Bunching" Problem

Everyone has seen the phenomenon of "bus bunching" - no matter what the schedule, buses end up clustered together in packs, resulting in some full buses and some empty ones and a long wait for some. Two professors say they have a solution.

June 27, 2012 - World Transit Research

A Departure from Traditional Airport Design

Back in 2001, Jim Starry proposed a radical rethink of airport design, with inclined runways and gates on top of terminals and parking lots. Lost in the 9/11 shuffle, Sarah Rich takes a second look at the idea.

June 27, 2012 - Smithsonian

Census: The Top Bike Commuting Cities In U.S.

The League of American Bicyclists updated their webpage with a link to the American Community Survey's data on bike and pedestrian commuting for the 70 largest cities and 375 more cities where data was available. Portland, OR and Davis, CA are tops.

June 26, 2012 - League of American Bicyclists

In China, Are Bikes Going the Way of the Dodo?

Matthew Stevenson anticipates the end of the bicycle in China's major cities, now overrun with scooters and scrambling for Western status symbols – in spite of ever-worsening traffic.

June 26, 2012 - New Geography

At Manhattan Big Box Mall, Parking Garage Still Sits Empty

A big box mall built in East Harlem, complete with an 1,100 space garage, is seeing its customers walk to shop instead of driving. The suburban assumptions underlying the enormous garage never panned out in the heart of the city.

June 26, 2012 - Streetsblog

Study Says Induced Traffic Effect Too Often Ignored

Despite many studies confirming the effect of induced traffic, the effect is often ignored in the transport models used for project appraisal, says a team of Scandanavian researchers creating an extreme bias in the assessment of new projects.

June 25, 2012 - European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research

San Francisco Launches Website to Encourage DIY Urbanism

The city recently launched SFBetterStreets.org to be a central source of information to help residents with street improvements like traffic-calming, parklets, bike corrals, plantings, art installations, and sidewalk fixtures.

June 25, 2012 - Streets Blog San Francisco

Generation X Author Pitches Futuristic Utility Pole

Douglas Coupland, most famous for authoring the book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, is pitching a combined street lamp / wifi / cell phone tower to bring connectivity to Vancouver's streets.

June 25, 2012 - National Post

Automakers Grapple with Urbanization

In a discussion at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Monte Carlo last week, panelists said the trend towards urbanization will require making cars part of a larger eco-system of transportation.

June 24, 2012 - Automotive News

The Death of the Urban Freeway? Not Yet

The long-sought after demolition of Bronx's Sheridan Expressway hits obstacles as the City of New York now looks to save and retrofit it.

June 23, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

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.

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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.