Transportation

The New Terrorist Threat: Bike Lanes

Jess Zimmerman, writing for Grist, takes a look at the absurdly overheated rhetoric coming out of New York concerning that city's new bikelanes.

March 24, 2011 - Grist

Car Ban Proposed in Central Park

A lawmaker in New York has introduced a plan to ban cars from Central Park and Prospect Park.

March 24, 2011 - The New York Post

Combating Gas Prices with Transit and Urban Design

As gas prices rise, more voices are calling for increased investments in transit and more multi-modal city planning.

March 24, 2011 - USA Today

Streetcar Success in New Orleans

The experience of rebuilding a streetcar line in New Orleans and the subsequent neighborhood growth that followed offers lessons to other cities considering streetcar plans, according to this piece from Architect Magazine.

March 24, 2011 - Architect

Lagos to Expand Bus Rapid Transit System

Lagos, Nigeria's bus rapid transit (BRT) system, established in 2008, will expand its services more than 13 miles from Oshodi to Ikorodu, announced Dr. Dayo Mobereola, the managing director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

March 24, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

24 Hrs. In Terrible Traffic

Data from mobile app Waze is used to create a visualization of the throbbing, insistent pulsing of Los Angeles traffic.

March 24, 2011 - GOOD Magazine

FHWA Approves Contraflow Bike Lanes

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) confirmed contraflow bike lanes with proper signage and pavement markings as permissible under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

March 23, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

More Techno-Travelers on Transit - Unless It's Crowded

The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development made over 16,000 observations of portable tech usage on airplains, trains, and buses. Their findings show that there is a increase of tech use on transit, but usage is reliant on users having space.

March 23, 2011 - TransportationNation.Org

Traffic Plan Offers Potential for Downtown Cleveland

Traffic plans for a new casino in downtown Cleveland could create a major improvement for the neighborhood -- or an indelible sore spot.

March 23, 2011 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

London Approves Aerial Tram Over River

An aerial gondola system will be built over the Thames River in London ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

March 23, 2011 - The Architect's Journal

NPR Reports On Freeway Conversion Movement

WCPN reporter interviews a commuter who is annoyed by a plan to make her commute longer - but it becomes clear that the suburbanite's faster commute is at the expense of an urban neighborhood.

March 23, 2011 - NPR

Bike Plan Foresees Vastly Different Los Angeles

The recent adoption of a citywide bicycle plan in Los Angeles could bring about broad changes to the city's physical environment.

March 22, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Hamburg Considers Sky Tram

Officials in Hamburg, Germany are considering a plan to build an aerial tram connecting two of the city's popular neighborhoods.

March 22, 2011 - Der Spiegel

Regional Planning Begins To Meet CA's Stricter Emissions Standards

Two Bay Area planning agencies have jointly released what they call their "Initial Vision Scenario", a first step in implementing the Sustainable Community Strategy required by state law (SB 375, 2008) to reduce climate emissions from transportation.

March 22, 2011 - Mercury News

Bus Standards Changed for Heavier Americans

The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) has been making decisions for years about transit capacity using weight standards from 1962. The FTA is proposing to update the average American from 150 to 175 pounds to better reflect reality.

March 22, 2011 - USA Today

Toronto Set to Launch Bike-Sharing Program

BIXI, a bicycle-sharing program that first launched in Montreal, is due to launch in Toronto in May.

March 22, 2011 - TheCityFix.com

Inside the Park Slope Bike Lane Battle

Reporter Matthew Shaer talks with folks on both sides of the highly contentious lawsuit seeking to remove a bike lane from Brookyln's Park Slope neighborhood.

March 21, 2011 - New York Magazine

Reconstructing Bucky's Dymaxion Car

Architect Norman Foster, who worked with Buckminster Fuller towards the end of his life, recently rebuilt Fuller's Dymaxion Car to exacting specifications. Metropolis Magazine interviewed Foster about what we can still learn from the Dymaxion design.

March 21, 2011 - Metropolis Magazine

$4 per Gallon Gas – Are We Ready?

With gas prices increasing rapidly, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology says the most effective solution is to reduce the demand by creating more "location-efficient" communities.

March 21, 2011 - Scott Bernstein

Borrowing Against Future Revenues to Expand Salt Lake City Rail

Salt Lake City is aggressively expanding its light rail network thanks to a voter approved tax increase. This post wonders whether the city could follow mimic a proposed plan in Los Angeles to speed up the use of those taxes.

March 20, 2011 - The Source

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.

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.