Transportation

High Speed Rail Jobs: Many Temporary, Few Permanent

The planned high speed rail connection between Victorville, California and Las Vegas is expected to create 50,000 temporary jobs. Only 700 will become permanent.

July 27, 2010 - The Las Vegas Sun

Bad Behavior While Driving is Actually Predictable

New research on the supposedly irrational patterns of behavior by drivers shows that bad driving decisions are predictable.

July 26, 2010 - In Transition

BRT On the Way to Jordan

A new bus rapid transit project has begun construction in Amman, Jordan -- a first for the country.

July 26, 2010 - Treehugger

San Juan to Ban Cars, Make "Walkable City"

The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambitious plan.

July 26, 2010 - David Soto

The Island of EVs

Hawaii is an ideal test case for creating an electric car infrastructure because fuel costs are very high and distances are manageable. Charging stations are going up all over the islands with a goal of making it easy to envision driving an EV.

July 25, 2010 - Governing Magazine

London's Suburbs Attempt to Assert Their Independence

"London's councils seem set on continuing the imbalance between the city center and outer suburbs, where the former supplies most of the jobs, and the latter most of the residents." Joe Peach reports on economic potential of suburban independence.

July 24, 2010 - The Global Urbanist

Bus Advocates Argue Rail Focused Planning Reduces Overall Transit Ridership in L.A.

Dan Weikel of the L.A. Times suggests that the focus on rail transit at the expense of buses has pushed general transit ridership down in general.

July 24, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

Visions of 2030: Bikes, BRT and Other Stuff We Have Now

A review of the Our Cities Ourselves at the Center for Architecture in New York, which features ten proposals to create better cities by 2030.

July 24, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

London Mayor "Militant About Cycling"

In an interview with the Guardian, Mayor Boris Johnson touted new plans for bicycle superhighways stretching throughout London.

July 23, 2010 - GOOD Magazine

Cities Adjusted to Attract the Elderly

America is aging. 'By 2030, nearly 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older.' This aging population has significant clout. Nearly one third of the population is over 50, and they control half the country's discretionary spending.

July 23, 2010 - The Infrastructurist

Cars, Culture & New York City

That's the title of an exhibit currently at The Museum of the City of New York, which shows how the auto dominated many aspects of city life. There are also showings of current "Streetfilms" by 'Livable Streets' showing how to undo it.

July 23, 2010 - The New York Times - Art & Design

How Accurate Are California's HSR Ridership Figures?

When she read over the ridership estimates behind California's HSR plans, Elizabeth Alexis was expecting to have "obscure arguments over the standard deviations," but instead found glaringly obvious "math" mistakes.

July 23, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

More Than Just Air at the Airport

Airports are becoming more than airports, with an increasing number expanding their services to being multimodal transit hubs.

July 22, 2010 - USA Today

Not Enough T in the DOT?

The federal government is paying more attention to the land use impacts of the transportation projects it's funding. Next American City's Yonah Freemark worries they may be paying too much attention.

July 22, 2010 - Next American City

Could China Fund L.A. Transit?

With the notion of a national infrastructure bank dead for now and Wall Street reluctant to invest in infrastructure projects, Joel Epstein argues that Chinese investment in L.A.'s 30/10 Transportation and Jobs Initiative is worth considering.

July 22, 2010 - Huffington Post

London's 'Cycle Superhighways'

The City of London has opened up two "bicycle superhighways".

July 22, 2010 - Press Association

Can BART Afford It's Expansions?

The Bay Area's 104-mile heavy rail system, BART, is planning major expansions. But many transit supporters, rather than cheering the new service and ridership the extensions would produce, are sounding alarms.

July 21, 2010 - San Francisco Examiner

$77 Billion Needed to Fix U.S. Transit

A new study by the Federal Transit Administration sets the price tag for getting the U.S.'s transit infrastructure up to snuff at 77.7 billion dollars.

July 21, 2010 - Sacramento Business Journal

Transit Discovers Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are becoming standard components of transit agencies' strategies for outreach and keeping riders informed.

July 20, 2010 - InTransition Magazine

Why Streetcar Spending Is Good For Charlotte

Charlotte just won $25 million in grants from the federal government to combine with $12 million of local funds to build a streetcar system. Some say it's a waste of money. This editorial from The Charlotte Observer argues its case.

July 19, 2010 - The Charlotte Observer

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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.