Transportation

Planned SF Transit Terminal May Be Obsolete By 2030

Designs for the new Transbay Terminal in San Francisco may not be able to handle the amount of passengers expected by 2030, according to transportation officials. Some are calling for a redesign of the plans, set to begin construction next year.

March 10, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

Cities Begin To Rethink Parking Policies

Three years after the publication of The High Cost of Free Parking, Prof. Don Shoup's work has begun to take hold across the country. Cities from San Francisco to Washington, DC, are starting to curb traffic and recognize the true cost of parking.

March 9, 2009 - InTransition Magazine

A Plea for PR: Bicycling in the City

A longtime urban cyclist compares cycling today with cycling twenty years ago, and considers how best to move forward.

March 9, 2009 - The New York Times

Ridership Increases in Boroughs, Even As Cuts Loom

The Center for an Urban Future found that ridership in the greater Manhattan area has been up significantly since 1998. But these routes are precisely the ones targeted for service cuts due to decreased revenue.

March 9, 2009 - Center For An Urban Future

Boosting the "Mobile" in Automobile

Three authors in the French Newspaper Le Monde pose possible futures for the car and the automobile industry.

March 9, 2009 - Truthout

Bike Sharing, C'est Bien en Paris

Jay Walljasper writes that bike-sharing programs are transforming life in European cities from Oslo to Rome, Barcelona to Vienna, and giving visitors a great new way to sightsee.

March 7, 2009 - NWA Traveler

Experts Question $8 Billion HSR Stimulus Investment

No one expects the $8 billion to build any one single high-speed-rail system in the U.S. But the U.S., with its vast distances and low gas prices, is not Europe or Asia, and some question whether the investment will produce any substantial results.

March 6, 2009 - The Boston Globe

Traffic Down 30% in Cities: How?

New data show that in 2008 traffic congestion in the nation's cities declined by 30 percent, the result not of new roads or transit, but of modest declines in VMT.

March 6, 2009 - CEOs For Cities

The Train in Spain Beats the Plane

As air travel security tightens and high speed rail expands, getting in and around Spain is becoming easier on the rails than in the sky.

March 6, 2009 - NPR

Taking a Closer Look at the Slum

Slums have garnered some positive attention lately, from academics (Teddy Cruz) to royalty (Prince Charles). This article looks at just what it is we can learn from them, as well as the challenges that face legitimizing the world's shantytowns.

March 5, 2009 - The Boston Globe

How to Make BRT Work for New York City

In this fourth and final installment on Bus Rapid Transit, Streetsblog and Walter Hook discuss how to make BRT work along 1st or 2nd Avenue--two ready-made BRT corridors.

March 5, 2009 - Streetsblog

A Model For Public Works, But A Bad One

The Highway Act of 1956 that resulted in the construction of America's Interstate Highway system has gathered a lot of praise recently as a model economy-boosting public works project. But based on the problems it's caused, that praise should stop.

March 5, 2009 - Financial Times

Solar-Powered Parking Meter Considered

Austin joins cities across the U.S. and elsewhere in shifting away from individually-metered spaces and towards pay stations in an effort to increase revenue and efficiencies.

March 5, 2009 - Austin American-Statesman

How States are Divvying Up the Transportation Money

This article provides a general breakdown of how state governments plan to use the first installment of transportation spending money from the stimulus. The leeway states have in how to spend has sparked debates among legislators.

March 5, 2009 - The New York Times

Congestion Control Demanded for New 12-Lane Bridge

The mayors of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington have come to an agreement about the size of a new bridge that will connect the two cities -- but on the condition that a bistate commission be set up to control congestion through tolling.

March 4, 2009 - The Oregonian

Don't Fear the VMT Fee

The Christian Science Monitor editorializes in support of the VMT fee replacing the gas tax just as the latest federal transportation financing commission report recommends, as Oregon Governor Kulongoski hopes to do, and as some will do in Europe.

March 4, 2009 - The Christian Science Monitor

Stimulus Should Get Rail Back on Track

Treehugger interviews urban designer, New Urbanist, and rail advocate Andy Kunz about the stimulus package and how it will benefit high speed rail in America.

March 4, 2009 - Treehugger

State Senator Wants California to Rethink Parking

Legislation written by State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) would require parking reform in the "Donald Shoup" mold in almost every city in California.

March 4, 2009 - Los Angeles Streetsblog

Shovels Are In Motion, Says Obama

The President and V.P. addressed the Department of Transportation today, stating that the new investment in infrastructure "will create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of next year, most of them in the private sector."

March 3, 2009 - WhiteHouse.gov

America's Most Congested Cities

Forbes has released its list of the most congested cities in America. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C. top the list.

March 3, 2009 - Forbes

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.

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

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