Transportation

L.A. Finally Updates 37-Year Old Bike Plan

Not updated since 1975, and years in the making, Los Angeles County has finally released a Bike Master Plan, available now for review.

October 18, 2011 - Streetsblog

How Does CA HSR Project Move Forward Amid Challenges?

Wounded but far from dead, the WSJ examines the many problems plaguing California's formidable HSR project. With federal funding likely to be pulled by House Republicans, the Journal reports on the courses the project could take.

October 18, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal - Business

Western Planners Swoop In To Attack Sao Paulo's 'Worm'

The Big Worm is a 2.2 mile elevated highway carving its way through South America's biggest city, carrying 80,000 vehicles a day past the bedroom windows of once elegant art deco apartment buildings.

October 17, 2011 - The Washington Post

The Surprising Rise of Minneapolis as a Top Bike Town

Despite its cold weather and spread-out development patterns, a Midwestern city beat Portland, San Francisco and Boulder for the title of #1 Bike City. Jay Walljasper explains how.

October 17, 2011 - Jay Walljasper

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

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.

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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.