Technology

With Transit Signal Priority Back On, Streetcars Moving Faster in Toronto
A pilot project in downtown Toronto shows improvements in travel times after the signal priority system is reactivated.

Drinking Water Lessons from West Texas
Several cities in West Texas have a long history in wastewater reclamation, even using the water for drinking, due to the Texas drought. El Paso aims to build the nation's largest advanced purification project for direct water reuse.

Ensuring the Benefits of Multiple Mobility as a Service Options
Vertically integrated mobility as a service options can offer great benefit to users, but unless cities create the right framework, it could stifle innovation and competition, as well as making the playing field too difficult for small companies.

Donut County: A Villainous Raccoon, a Hole in the Ground, and the Effects of Gentrification
In a new video game, the player is a no-good raccoon wreaking havoc on the world around him.

Weekly Electric Scooter Media Brief: Aug. 29 – Sept. 4
The second installment "Weekly Electric Scooter Media Brief" presents a veritable cornucopia of breaking news, opinions, and insights into the wild west of electric scooter regulation.

The Ambition of Trulia Neighborhoods, Served With a Side of Caution
Can Trulia succeed in making sense of neighborhoods for an online platform?

There's No 'Smart City' Without Smart Payment Technology
Thinking beyond the MetroCard.

Will Innovative Financing Solve California's Housing Shortage?
Are housing and housing finance two separate problems? California Assemblymember David Chiu and others in housing discuss how available finance tools could be employed to expand the capital pool for affordable housing projects.

Friday Funny: Tesla Invents the Greenest Car
The Fake News website The Onion reports a complete fabrication about Elon Musk and Tesla.

Weekly Electric Scooter Media Brief
The first installment of an easy-to-gather collection of media coverage on electric scooters, the companies who rent them, the cities who regulate them (or not), and the public who loves (or hates) them.

'Mobility for All' Responds to Growing Need for Quality Paratransit Service
Accessible technology and a centralized database and call center will help deliver a one-call, one-click transportation information system for seniors and people with special needs in the Portland region.

An App to Fight the Eviction Crisis
In "America's Eviction Badlands," universities are developing web apps to help tenants stay in their homes.

New App Helps Taxis Compete
The Waave app provides some of the functionality of ride-hailing apps to taxi drivers. The app is the result of a New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission pilot program.

Transit Shelter Modernization Plan on the Shelf in Seattle
Transit advocates thought a public-private partnership to modernize transit shelters and enhance the public realm was a done deal.

SUVs Sales Increase in California While Car Sales Drop—Except Those with Plugs
It's a classic paradox, observes David R. Baker for the San Francisco Chronicle: bigger, thirstier vehicles sell better than smaller, more efficient ones, while the market for battery-powered vehicles, especially Teslas, also increases.

The Public Can Hail Driverless Rides in Texas, Starting in October
Drive.ai is advancing its autonomous vehicle service a step further—into the public realm.

Tenants in Rent Controlled Buildings in California to Gain EV Charging
An exemption to an existing law was removed Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that affords tenants in rent-controlled buildings the same right to request electric vehicle charging capability as renters in unregulated apartments.

Transit Industry Leadership Expresses Optimism About Meeting Upcoming Safety Deadlines
With a year-end deadline approaching, reports indicate progress by agencies and optimism that vulnerable systems will meet this year’s requirements.

A Texas Community Built for 5G
Developers hope 5G infrastructure will make Frisco Station a hub for self-driving cars, air taxis, and other futuristic technologies.

Treating Self-Driving Cars Like Student Drivers
Eschewing glamor, Drive.ai's self-driving vehicles use bright coloring, insignia, and LED messages to facilitate better interactions with humans on the road.
Pagination
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