Transportation
Transport Revolutions
Lester Brown explores how bus rapid transit systems and other innovations are transforming transportation in cities across the world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.
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.
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.
Dreaming of Networked Cars
Brad Templeton dreams about a world of mini robot cars and the infrastructure savings that would result.
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.
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.
Privatized Transit: Who Profits?
Yonah Freemark argues that encouraging developers to build their own transit (as Christopher Leinberger recently argued) could be highly problematic.
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.
Working From Home: An Urban Planning Revolution
A piece in The Atlantic argues that telecommuting trends could have significant impacts on the built environment.
Turning Downtown into Suburbia – The Case of Hartford, Connecticut
When we think of sprawl, we usually picture suburban life. But inner cities also took on the character of sprawl when freeways came in and were buildings torn down, say Christopher T. McCahill and Norman Garrick.
Senate Climate Bill Called A Gas Tax
The American Power Act climate legislation by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, unveiled May 12, does have fees that oil refineries must pay, but is it a stretch to call the bill a disguised gas tax? Edmunds.com analyses American Solutions charge.
Evolving Beyond the Long Commute
Car commutes used to be long by necessity. But that's no longer the case, according to Richard Florida in this video from The Atlantic.
Explaining Houston's Lack of Effective Public Transit
Despite being one of the largest cities in the U.S., public transit in Houston has not kept up with its population growth. Kristie Lewis offers five reasons why.
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
