Exclusives

FEATURE

Transit Use is Growing, But Not Where You Think

Transit saw some big ridership increases over the past few years, but maybe not where you'd expect. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the top ten metropolitan areas where transit use has increased the most.

November 19 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

Learning from TTI

This week, I finally got around to looking at the latest (2009) Texas Transportation Institute study on traffic congestion. (1) Two facts struck me as interesting. First, the great congestion surge of the past decade or two is over. In most large metropolitan areas, congestion (measured as hours lost to congestion per traveler) peaked around 2005, and actually declined in 2005-07. For example, in Atlanta, hours lost to congestion peaked at 61, and decreased to 57 by 2007. Congestion increased in only three of the fourteen largest regions (Washington, Detroit and Houston)- and in each of these by only one hour per traveler.

November 16 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

From Policy to Implementation, CNU Transportation Summit Examines "The Greatest Place"

Mike Lydon reports from the CNU Transportation Summit in Portland, Oregon, the country's laboratory of smart growth. "Change is imminent," says Congressman Earl Blumenauer via video.

November 16 - Mike Lydon

BLOG POST

Automobility and Freedom: Conflicts and Resolutions

Much of my work involves developing <a href="http://www.vtpi.org/tdm">transportation demand management and smart growth policies</a> which improve travel options (walking, cycling, public transit, carsharing, etc.), reform pricing and transport planning to encourage travelers to choose the most efficient mode for each trip, and create more accessible, multi-modal communities.

November 16 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Checklists to Rethink the Streetspace

November 16 - Amber Hawkes

BLOG POST

Somewhere Between Blight and Gentrification...

Is there a happy medium between the run-down liquor store and the gourmet shop? What is the best form of Main Street retail, as people move back to the city and re-emergent neighborhoods acquire shops and services that were once lacking?

November 15 - Diana DeRubertis

BLOG POST

The Future of American High Speed Rail: Regional and Slow

During his dramatic presentation <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/16/a-vision-for-high-speed-rail/">last April</a>, President Barack Obama laid out a bold vision for high speed rail in America. Wielding a stylish red, white, and blue map (below) he presented the proposed corridors for new high speed trains. (Similar, if not identical, to plans long sitting on the shelf at the Federal Railway Administration.) He asked Americans to "Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination." In reality limited funds, our dysfunctional planning processes, and the historical lack of investment in rail will mean the U.S. will most likely end up with a diverse collection of regional rail systems that may not go that fast.

November 13 - Robert Goodspeed

BLOG POST

Prisoners of The Village

You don't know how you get there, but you're there. And you can't leave. You're a prisoner among hundreds of other prisoners, but you're the only one who knows it. Or at least you think you know it. Are you really still a prisoner if you forget you're being held against your will? Existentialism aside, what if it's your environment that's taking away your sense of individualism?

November 12 - Nate Berg

FEATURE

Bolder Plans, Bigger Dreams

November 12 - Martha Frish

BLOG POST

Prince Charles, Vancouverism, and the search for Sustainable Urbanism

This past Saturday, I had the honour of joining a group of invited urbanists and sustainability experts, in a special dialogue put on by <a href="http://www.princes-foundation.org/" target="_blank">The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment</a>, and Vancouver's Simon Fraser University. Among other things, the event was to launch a new partnership between these two innovative organizations around research and curriculum for sustainable urbanism.

November 10 - Brent Toderian

FEATURE

Planning for Sustainability in New York City

November 9 - Nate Berg

BLOG POST

Class Conscience: When Is Clean-Slate Planning Okay?

My classmate was up in front of everyone, flapping and flailing, pleading his case and getting shot down at every turn. It was a bit like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It was also kind of like looking in the mirror. I’m just more than halfway through a planning school studio project working on the beautiful (no, really) Lower Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. They’ve teamed up about 15 planner/urban designers with about 45 landscape architects, who, as I mentioned <a href="/node/40796">last time</a>, are reasonably bonkers. That was about a month and a half ago; since then, I’ve begun to think maybe I’m the one needing a room with padded walls.

November 9 - Jeffrey Barg

BLOG POST

Fleeting Design

If you’ve ever worked in distressed communities, you’ve faced the dilemma that there simply is no private market for what you want to see built. You can chip away at the problem of vacant land with thoughtful affordable housing developments or, if you’re lucky, a new recreation center but by and large, large amounts of vacancy remain and impact the psyche of those that live nearby. So working closely with residents, and really listening, has sparked a whole new sub-discipline in our world of urban planning and design - temporary use. The shrinking cities movement shined a light on the potential of ad-hoc reuse and programming some time ago but so too has groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

November 6 - Scott Page

BLOG POST

Public Options in Transit and Health Care

<pre> Over the next few months, Congress will continue to debate health insurance reform, and in particular, whether to create a "public option"- a government-financed insurance company which would compete with private health insurers. Opponents of the public option fear that the government package might drive private insurers out of business. Are such concerns legitimate? American transportation history may give ammunition to both supporters and opponents of the public option. </pre> <pre>

November 5 - Michael Lewyn

FEATURE

Climate, Housing and Health: A Tripartite Challenge for the Poor

November 5 - Peter Williams

BLOG POST

Let Me Clear My Throat

For those who either have been wondering about, or not regularly following, the private life and times of your correspondent, I believe some sort of explanation is in order for what appears to have been my abrupt and complete disappearance off the face of the Earth. No, I did not get hit by an electric bus. No, there were no sinkholes in my proverbial bike lane. No, I didn't fatally discover an improperly phased pedestrian “Don't Walk” message on a recent signal timing field test. In fact, I have not disappeared from the face of any planet; rather, I have been devoured by the political wranglings and machinations of a very complex and tumultuous mayoral campaign in my fantastic hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. More importantly, one week after being <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_stories_home/push?article--Hoboken+Mayor+Zimmer+hires+Ian+Sacs+to+head+Parking+Utility-+Corea+can+return+to+City+Hall+at+lower+salary-%20&id=3510818--Hoboken+Mayor+Zimmer+hires+Ian+Sacs+to+head+Parking+Utility-+Corea+can+return+to+City+Hall+at+lower+salary-&instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column">appointed Provisional Director</a> of the Hoboken Parking Utility, my wife gave birth to a wonderful boy. But – sniff – I did miss you!

November 4 - Ian Sacs

BLOG POST

Don't Bogart That Joint, My Friend

"Don't Bogart That Joint, My Friend" Lyrics: Lawrence Wagner Music: Elliot Ingber (on the soundtrack of "Easy Rider") Chorus Don't bogart that joint my friend Pass it over to me Don't bogart that joint my friend Pass it over to me Roll another one Just like the other one You've been holding on to it And I sure will like a hit [chorus] Roll another one Just like the other one That one's burned to the end Come on and be a real friend [chorus] Marijuana is prescribed for certain medical conditions, such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. Since 1996, <a href="http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54">at least 13 states have legalized</a> the sale of medical marijuana. Now, check your zoning regulations and see what districts allow this land use: "Retail Sales – Medical Marijuana." Couldn’t find it, right?

November 2 - Dwight Merriam

BLOG POST

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Transportation Policy

An important new book, <a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abd-a392-ae583809e350%7D/HEALTHTRANS_FULLBOOK_FINAL.PDF">Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research</a>, and its summary report, <a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/atf/cf/%7B245a9b44-6ded-4abd-a392-ae583809e350%7D/TRANSPORTATIONRX.PDF">The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America</a>, were just published by the <a href="http://www.convergencepartnership.org/transportationhealthandequity">Convergence Partnership</a>, a coalition that supports more rational and equitable health policy.

November 2 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Starchitecture and Sustainability: Hope, Creativity, and Futility Collide in Contemporary Architecture

Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.

November 1 - Josh Stephens

BLOG POST

Mixing It Up at RailVolution

BOSTON -- If you've ever studied the bar menu at <a href="http://www.tradervics.com/index.html" target="_blank">Trader Vic's</a> then you know about such wonders as Tropical Passion, Moku Nani, and the Potted Parrot. Each is made of a unique but secret blend of dark rum, light rum, spiced rum, tropical juices, and of course "subtle flavorings." But by the time you'd realize that the only real difference is the glass they come in, you're too probably drunk to notice--or care. Minus the palm fronds, the RailVolution conference is much the same.

October 31 - Josh Stephens