Transportation
Looking Back at the Olympic Experiment
During the 17 days of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver significantly beefed up its transit offerings and reduced lanes for automobiles. Did the experiment work, and what would happen if these temporary changes were made permanent?
Preservationists Concerned About Visual Blight from Streetcars
Portland has them. So does Charlotte. But in the nation's capital, streetcar overhead wires are under fire from historic preservationists.
Canadian Cities Wiring for Electric Vehicles
For electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to really take off, there needs to be a coordinated effort between planners, developers and the utilities to ensure the infrastructure is in place. Some Canadian cities are already taking action.
Paratransit Collides with Politics in Philly
Thanks in part to federal grants, wheelchair-accessible taxi service is available in most major American cities - San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., but not in Philadelphia, where the issue is stalled in the statehouse.
AARP Asks: Is A Streetcar Coming To Your City?
AARP takes a comprehensive looks at streetcars, exploring their past demise, comeback, and now spreading to as many as 40 cities. Special attention is given to the Portland Streetcar and how the streetcar enables better mobility for seniors.
Guerrilla Sharrows
In Los Angeles, wheat-pasted posters that indicate bike lanes have been cropping up on utility boxes all over the city.
Texas Toll Roads Go Cash Free
North Texas Tollway (NTTA) has announced their intention to go all electronic for their toll roads by the end of the year, and Florida will soon follow.
Combined NHTSA & EPA Standards for New Cars Issued
Normally fuel economy standards are set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Due to the 2007 Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Air Act, the new rules are jointly issued by the EPA to regulate tailpipe emissions as well as CAFE.
Highway Trust Fund Bailed Out With $19.5 Billion 'Reimbursement'
One of the most significant pieces of legislation for transportation was last month's job bill that contained essential transportation provisions, including extension of the transportation act, $19.5 Billion to HTF, $4.6 billion to Buy America Bonds.
How To Design Your Own Speed Bump - In German
A German homeowner is frustrated with the traffic in his neighborhood, so he designs and installs his own speed bump for his street. While there are no English subtitles, the pictures and sounds illustrate the directions and results all too well.
LEED Certification For Parking: Reserve Space For Low Emitters
A Marin County shopping mall hopes to be the first LEED-certified mall, partly by reserving parking space for low emitting vehicles. All spaces, for guzzlers and green vehicles alike, are unpriced, perhaps pointing to shortfalls of green building.
Five Things You Need To Know About High-Speed Rail
To inaugurate the launch of our new website with exclusive coverage of high-speed rail, we asked David J. Carol, Market Leader of High-Speed Rail at Parsons Brinkerhoff to tell us what we need to know about the U.S.'s exciting new endeavor.
San Francisco Counts its Parking
Very few large cities can claim to know how many parking spaces they have. San Francisco has counted its publicly accessibly parking supply and released the data to through Data SF website.
Feds Put Faith in L.A. Transit Plan
Federal officials are looking at an unlikely city as a model for urban public transit: Los Angeles.
Pittsburgh Bike Parking Requirement Ushers Age of Bicycle
The City of Pittsburgh recently approved a new ordinance requiring bike parking in new developments. Cyclists say the move is a ceremonial acceptance of bicycles as a form of transportation in the city.
Transit Fan Takes the Helm
Last week, Richard A. Davey Jr. was appointed the new general manager of the MBTA, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The Boston Globe's transportation reporter rides the T with him and talks transit.
Big Dip in Traffic Fatalities
A preliminary count of all road fatalities in 2009 shows a record low figure of 33,963; almost 9% lower than 2008. The final count is due this summer. While the declining VMT due to a depressed economy was a major factor, the rate declined as well.
Bikes, Transit and Walking Ahead of Cars?
Sam Staley of the Reason Foundation argues that Ray LaHood's recent statement that bikes and pedestrians will be considered on the same level as cars doesn't mesh with the facts.
Rapid Transit for Sin City
Jacob Snow, the executive director of the Clark County Regional Transportation Commission, can't hide his excitement about new rapid transit buses coming to the Las Vegas area in this editorial.
New Scorecard From NY DOT: Driving in Decline, Safety Improvements Work
New York City's second annual Sustainable Streets Index adds a wealth of data in support of green transportation and street safety.
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
