Infrastructure
What Would it Take to Build a Tram Network the Size of Melbourne's?
Melbourne, Australia, is fortunate it inherited the largest tram network in the world, because building something like it today—say in a city such as Sydney—would be extraordinarily expensive and difficult.
Washington Governor Proposes Cap-and-Trade to Fund Highways
After a failed attempt to increase the fuel tax, itself a form of carbon tax on gas and diesel sales, Gov. Jay Inslee seeks to use revenue from carbon permits purchased by stationary sources in a new cap-and-trade program to pay for transportation.
Part One: Should MoMA Tout Tactical Urbanism(s) as a Solution to Uneven Growth?
In part one of a two-part series, I introduce MoMA's latest Issues in Contemporary Architecture exhibit and offer a definition of Tactical Urbanism.
Transportation Think Tank Recommends Ending Highway Trust Fund
The non-partisan Eno Center for Transportation has had it with futile attempts to raise the federal gas tax and the never-ending transfers (bailouts?) from the federal general fund to keep roads and transit funded. "Pay as you go" no longer works.
The Top Bike Lane Projects of 2014
Bike lanes are hot right now in cities all over the country. As more and more cities build more and more miles of bike infrastructure, which projects are exemplary?
New Mayor, New Agenda for the Port City of Long Beach
Recently elected Mayor of Long Beach Robert Garcia, 37 years old, outlines his priorities: education, climate change, and economic development.
On the Importance of Bike Parking to Bike Commute Adoption
A blogger writes that bike advocates should think outside the bike lane to bike parking facilities—only when the costs of biking are externalized will a critical mass adopt biking.
Urban vs. Suburban: The Debate Continues
However your read the tea leaves, if it's true the 'burbs are reinventing themselves in the new era, it’s walkable, compact urbanism that's providing a game plan.
750-Mile Trail Network Near Philadelphia Receives $8.6 Million Gift
The William Penn Foundation has awarded $8.6 million in support for The Circuit—a planned regional network of bicycle and pedestrian trails for greater Philadelphia.
The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2014
We've been collecting data on the posts you made the most popular for the year 2014.
Study: Trip Generation Manual Produces 'Phantom Trips'
Research suggests that the Trip Generation Manual—a familiar tool for planners calculating the vehicle trips expected to be generated by developments of various sizes and uses—produces "phantom trips" and unneeded automobile infrastructure.
Kansas City Proceeding with the First of (Possibly) Many Road Diets
Mike Hendricks reports on road diet plans for Grand Boulevard in Downtown Kansas City.
Federal Spending Bill Passes—TIGER Trimmed But Still Alive
With most of its funding intact for 2014, and a proposed ban on funding for active transportation projects off the table, fans of TIGER grants can take a deep breath.
After Keystone Delay, Enviros Challenge Other Pipelines
After successfully stalling the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport tar sands crude from Alberta to Gulf area refineries, environmental activists are targeting other proposed pipelines, although the result may be more crude-by-rail shipments.
Bicycle Plan Leads to Parking Policy Questions in St. Paul
St. Paul is in the community engagement stage of a bike planning process expected to culminate early next year. Among the bike plan's proposals, none have sparked as much controversy as a downtown loop that would remove street parking.
The Georgia Transportation Funding Debate
Georgia's experience emerging from the recession as revenues increase after years of government belt tightening is common around the country. The question now: How to finance the improvements to the state's neglected transportation infrastructure?
Republican Governors, Encouraged by Low Gas Prices, to Raise Gas Taxes
While there may never be a good time to increase the federal gas tax, the same is not true when it comes to state gas taxes—perhaps because governors can't transfer billions of dollars from general funds to pay for roads. Lower gas prices helps.
Street Trees on State Roads Spark Controversy in Louisville
Louisville's goals to plant and grow an urban forest to mitigate the city's heat island effect has run afoul of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's engineering standards for state owned roads.
1100-Mile High Speed Rail Route Opens in China—Equivalent to Los Angeles to Seattle
China opened 32(!) new high speed rail routes this week, including a connection between Shanghai and Guanzhou equivalent to a trip between Los Angeles and Seattle.
Five Things You Need to Know About E-Bikes—An Urban Transportation Paradigm Shift
When you have a small electric motor, a battery, and a throttle on your bicycle, it becomes very difficult to make any more excuses. Here's why...
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
