Transportation
Why Transportation Projects Are Expensive
David Levinson poses some possible answers, such as inaccurate project scopes, insufficient economies of scale, and an increase in safety standards.
Gas Prices & Transit Ridership: New Report Details The Connection
Eric Jaffe reports on new research by urban travel behavior expert Bradley Lane of U. of Texas/El Paso on elasticity of gas prices and bus and rail ridership. Interestingly, rail ridership spiked twice as much as bus ridership when gas prices rose.
Regional Planners Sued for Promoting Sprawl
The Cleveland National Forest Foundation is suing SANDAG over a $200 billion transportation plan that purportedly only promotes sprawl through freeway extensions.
San Francisco: "Transit First" In Name Only
Well ahead of it's time, San Francisco adopted a 'transit-first policy' in 1973. However, the 'drive-alone' mode dominates at 39%. While far better than elsewhere in the Bay Area and much of the U.S., transit remains clearly in second place at 32%.
U.S. Transit Vulnerable to Terrorism
Josh Stephens writes that while Al Queda seems obsessed with air travel, they have attacked transit in other countries and the U.S. system is vulnerable.
MCTS Announces Greenline, Blueline, and Redline
In Milwaukee, a new express service will operate on three new routes which will begin service on January 29th, 2012. In addition to the new service, MCTS is restructuring a number of other routes, and creating new routes as well.
Extensive Cycling Infrastructure Created By Mass Protest
The Netherlands gains the title of 'Safest Place to Cycle,' which is mainly due to their extensive infrastructure. But how did these high quality cycle paths come to exist?
Expressway Construction Faces Challenges
According to Tollroads News, "Without any tolling option, New York State DOT has been forced to drop a long planned rebuild of an old segment of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) and a portion of the Gowanus Expressway, both I-278 in Brooklyn."
Will CA HSR Survive Leg' Analyst's Blistering Report?
The non-partisan Legislative Analyst pulled no punches. To proceed with the project without more funding and environmental clearances would violate the authorizing ballot proposition and endanger funding for all other state needs, including education
Cycling Superhighways Raising Debate
In the summer of 2010, London launched a new program that had established bright blue bike lanes known as 'Cycle Superhighways' alongside main roads. These initiatives are intended to provide the quickest routes into the city centre.
Agency Says $500,000 Survey is Worth the Cost
In Chicago, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is willing to spend $500,000 to survey their riders to see how the public feels about the bus and train services.
Long-Awaited Bus Project Finally Gets Funding
According to Yonah Freemark, the FTA announced that with a "New Starts grant," the 9.4-mile bus rapid transit line that has been under consideration since the late 90's, has finally secured funds to complete the project.
Tropical Island Gets Its First Expressway
Sri Lanka, an island nation of 20 million people, has just completed its first express highway, which, as Toll Roads News is quick to point out, is financed through a toll system.
Is the Central Valley The Vietnam For CA High Speed Rail?
It's been called a white elephant and a boondoggle, but Stanford rail historian Richard White went further in his interview in the NYT by comparing it with escalating involvement in an unwinnable war.
BART To San Jose To Take $772 Million Step
One of the costliest transit projects in the Bay Area is a $772 million contract, closer to construction come Dec. 8. The long-awaited BART extension from Fremont to the region's largest city may be contingent on FTA funding expected in February.
Train Cars Recycle Kinetic Energy
A subway in Warsaw, Poland now features a system that captures the energy created by braking train cars for reuse elsewhere in the system.
East Bay County Proposes Half-Cent Transportation Sales Tax
The newly formed Alameda County Transportation Commission is proposing a permanent, half-cent sales tax be placed on before the voters of the second most populous Bay Area county for the Nov. 2012 ballot for a variety of transportation purposes.
New Yorkers Can't Get to New Jobs
A new report from the Center for an Urban Future says that Manhattan's boroughs have been booming but transit hasn't caught up, leaving a lot of residents without access to jobs.
Untruths About a Gas Tax
The Carnegie Endowment's Shin-pei Tsay and Deborah Gordon expose five common myths and reveal three important facts on the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and present their solution to maintaining and improving America’s transportation infrastructure.
Another Billion Dollars Awarded to CA HSR
Per a USDOT press release on Monday, Secretary LaHood has OK'd an additional $928.6 million in funding for California high speed rail, keeping the funds out of reach from state Republicans who'd rather the money go to highway construction.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
