Transportation

Lightweight Blocks Cut Rail Costs and Timelines

Light rail developers in Utah are cutting costs and timelines with a new and unlikely track base: foam.

March 21, 2009 - KSL

End of the Road for the RV?

Between the spike in gas prices in 2008 and the current recession, the RV industry is in serious trouble as the market for enormous homes on wheels dries up.

March 20, 2009 - Salon.com

MTA Service Cuts, Block by Block

Regional Plan Association of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut has mapped out the impact of all MTA's service cuts for every State Assembly and Senate district in the region. There's also an interactive Google Map.

March 20, 2009 - Regional Plan Association

Texans for Transit

Officials in North Texas showed significant support yesterday for legislation to raise money for billions of dollars in road and rail improvements.

March 20, 2009 - The Star-Telegram

The News Hour Reports On Public Transit In Peril

"Blueprint America" looks at declining public transit subsidies and resulting transit service cuts. The video and report follows two East Bay commuters on suburban bus, BART; the transit agency meeting where bus service is reduced; MUNI LRT footage.

March 20, 2009 - PBS-The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

A New Paris, as Dreamed by Planners

Nine-month study commissioned by President Nicolas Sarkozy aims to transform Paris and its surrounding suburbs into the first sustainable “post-Kyoto" city.

March 19, 2009 - The New York Times

Amsterdam Leading Green City Movement

In the next few months, the Dutch capital will make numerous changes to make its infrastructure greener. With the help of private companies like Cisco and IBM, Amsterdam is closer to becoming a "smart city" than any other in Europe.

March 19, 2009 - BusinessWeek

Playing Catch-Up with Rail

Have high-speed rail stimulus funds put us any closer to technology like mag-lev? A long record of underfunding makes many of such projects shovel-unready, but hopes are still high.

March 19, 2009 - Miller-McCune

How Far Can $1.3 Billion Take Amtrak?

March 19, 2009 - Judy Chang

Catering to Oakland's Enclaves

A one-size-fits-all urban landscape doesn't mean that different ethnic neighborhoods don't find ways to personalize them. A UC Berkeley graduate student investigates how cultures perceive space.

March 18, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

Redesigning City Design

President Obama has promised to give cities a new image, one as the engines that drive the economy and whose issues are intertwined with those of the suburbs. This article looks at some of the big ideas shaping the new city.

March 18, 2009 - Architect Magazine

Milwaukee to Receive Hibernating Transit Funds

Nearly $100 million in transportation funding that has been sidelined in Milwaukee over bureaucratic disagreements will finally come to use, as Mayor Tom Barrett announces provisions in the Federal Omnibus Budget Bill call for it to be spent.

March 18, 2009 - Biz Times

The Battle Over The Transbay Terminal

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) and the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) are sparring over the size of the "train box" in the new Transbay Terminal. Streetsblog makes sense of the brouhaha.

March 18, 2009 - Streetsblog SF

Planner's Predictions Uncovered

Fifty years ago, Kenneth E. Norwood placed a time capsule and his predictions for Burbank, CA in a newly constructed bridge. According to the planner, monorails and "multi-unit garden apartments" were the waves of the future.

March 18, 2009 - Los Angeles Times Blog

Regional Rail Chances Getting Brighter in Detroit

With a recent infusion of $44 million and hopes for more from the federal stimulus package, regional light rail is gathering momentum in Detroit. Advocates see more than mobility in the struggling city's future.

March 17, 2009 - The Detroit Free Press

How Does Maglev Work, Anyway?

A new sixty-minute TV documentary explains how maglev technology works, and covers the first major accident on a maglev track.

March 17, 2009 - Parallax Film Productions

Accelerating Mass Transit

March 16, 2009 - Peter Gertler

World's Most Successful Subway?

This video takes a look at what may be the world's best subway system - Hong Kong's MTR. Riders hold shares in the public-private entity. And, as the video explains, it is profitable.

March 15, 2009 - World Focus

Failure of Palmdale Airport Frustrates Regional Planning In SoCal

Once the object of grand plans, L.A. county's Palmdale Regional Airport has tried in vain to sustain regular service and ease congestion at LAX. United's pullout in December leaves the future of regionalization in doubt.

March 13, 2009 - California Planning & Development Report

3,000 Year Old Site Swapped for Train Station

Legislators in Utah have approved a bill that would allow the Utah Department of Natural Resources to swap a 3,000 year old Native American village to a group of developers intent on building a new transit station.

March 13, 2009 - Deseret News

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.