Transportation

Fighting High-Speed Rail With Lunch Boxes?

Taiwan's North-South high-speed rail line has attracted a lot of customers away from a traditional commuter rail line. The traditional line is playing the nostalgia card by bringing out old-fashioned railway box lunches.

May 25, 2010 - Focus Taiwan

Least Favorite Transit Commuters

A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rider calls out her least favorite fellow commuters, from inconsiderate people in the handicapped spots to the person munching their fries while everyone is headed home and hungry.

May 25, 2010 - Contra Costa Times

Do You Have $600 Billion For A New Transportation Bill?

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood is taped while speaking at a community meeting in Manhattan's Chinatown expressing enthusiasm for 'tolling', though it's not clear what roads or bridges would be tolled, which was clarified in a subsequent email.

May 25, 2010 - Transportation Nation

Paint Shortage Slows Road Projects

Though funding is usually the limiting factor in road projects, the current shortage of a chemical is creating a sharp undersupply of the paint used to paint road lines.

May 24, 2010 - The New York Times

Transport Revolutions

Lester Brown explores how bus rapid transit systems and other innovations are transforming transportation in cities across the world.

May 24, 2010 - Grist

Opening Data Makes Finding Urban Solutions Easier

Next American City's Christian Madera reports on a series of seminars looking at how the growing open data movement is helping to offer cities solutions to some of their operational problems.

May 22, 2010 - Next American City

High Speed, High Price

As China Expands its high speed rail system, some of the country's rural poor have criticized the trains for being too expensive.

May 22, 2010 - Global Times

With Transit Funding in the Dumps, Seattle Could Ditch Ride Free Area

A section of downtown Seattle has for decades been a fare-free public transit zone. Those days could be coming to an end.

May 22, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Carpooling Falls Out of Favor

In Seattle, parking spaces are reserved for people who carpool into downtown. But in recent years, an increasing amount of those parking spaces are empty.

May 21, 2010 - Seattle Weekly

Tensions Between House & Administration Stymie Transportation Progress

Tensions have arisen between the Obama administration and Oberstar, who is anxious to get working on the transportation reauthorization bill. DOT Secretary LaHood is calling for an extension of the 2005 highway bill instead.

May 21, 2010 - Politico

Amtrak Line Meets Ridership Goals for First Year in 6 Months

The new Northeast Regional extension to Lynchburg, Virginia has met its goal of 51,000 riders project for its first year in the first six months.

May 21, 2010 - WSLS-TV

'Virtual Subways' and Suggested Solutions to L.A.'s Transit Problem

Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus offers broad suggestions for fixing public transit in L.A.

May 20, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

Nearby Commercial Interests May Be Asked to Fund D.C. Streetcar System

Washington D.C.'s planned 37-mile streetcar system will be a boon to nearby businesses, according to a recent report. As a result, the mayor is pushing a plan that would ask commercial property owners to help fund the system.

May 20, 2010 - The Washington Post

Funding Delays Add Slightly to Toronto's Light Rail Timeline

Despite uncertainties about funding and objections from the city's mayor, Toronto's light rail plans are moving ahead, according to transit officials.

May 20, 2010 - Global Toronto

Dreaming of Networked Cars

Brad Templeton dreams about a world of mini robot cars and the infrastructure savings that would result.

May 19, 2010 - Brad Ideas

China's Grand High Speed Rail Plans

China has plans not only to expand its own network of high speed trains, but to build the trains for the rest of the world. They are already giving Japan and Europe a run for their money. Not bad considering their first HSR line opened in 2008.

May 19, 2010 - The Washington Post

Recession Caused VMT To Drop But Back On the Rise

Kenneth Small of UC Irvine shows that higher prices do reduce driving, as do recessions when workers lose their jobs, which is one of the main factors in the recent drop in VMT.

May 18, 2010 - The New York Times - Business Day

Privatized Transit: Who Profits?

Yonah Freemark argues that encouraging developers to build their own transit (as Christopher Leinberger recently argued) could be highly problematic.

May 18, 2010 - Next American City

LaHood Rides MagLev

The line may only be 12 miles, but the train speeds at 312 mph. The Secretary of Transportation was in Japan as part of the effort to bring high speed rail to the U.S. though it's not clear whether he is in fact considering the maglev technology.

May 17, 2010 - The New York Times - Global Business

Working From Home: An Urban Planning Revolution

A piece in The Atlantic argues that telecommuting trends could have significant impacts on the built environment.

May 17, 2010 - The Atlantic

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.