Infrastructure

President Obama Signs 3-Week Highway Bill and Railroad Safety Extension

A three-week extension of federal transportation spending and three-year extension for railroads to install positive train control was signed on Oct. 29, the date the current highway extension expired.

October 30, 2015 - Transport Topics

Oklahoma Governor Announces $900 Million in Turnpike Expansions

The "Driving Forward" plan, as it's called, is unabashed in its ambitions to expand highway capacity in the state of Oklahoma.

October 30, 2015 - The Oklahoman

Watch and Learn: The Critical Importance of New Hudson River Tunnel

The Regional Plan Association has created an animated video that simply and artfully explains the importance of a new Hudson River tunnel.

October 30, 2015 - Crain's New York Business

Vancouver Votes to Remove Downtown Viaducts; Obstacles Remain

The Vancouver City Council took a major step forward this week with an idea that it's been mulling for years: to tear down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts located in the city's downtown.

October 29, 2015 - CBC News

Will Electric Utilities Disrupt the Oil Industry in California?

A key bill had language allowing public utilities to enter into the electric vehicle charging industry—overlooked by the oil industry and a game-changer for EVs as it tackles one of their most formidable challenges.

October 29, 2015 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Pumping Gas

Report: The Price of Driving Doesn't Match the Cost of Driving

The true cost of vehicle and road use is not reflected in the price drivers pay.

October 29, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

The Seat of Government

House Transportation Bill Misses Mark on Transit

Transit advocates have little good to say about the recently-passed Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act. While it doesn't cut transit funding, it does nothing to expedite transit-based solutions.

October 29, 2015 - Streetsblog Network

Port Authority Clears Major Hurdle for Bus Terminal Redesign

An expensive, contentious project to redesign and possibly relocate the Port Authority Terminal finally has a way forward: an international design competition to be concluded a year from now.

October 28, 2015 - New York Post

California Bullet Train

Report: Cost Overruns and Deadline Constraints Plague California High-Speed Rail

At the heart of the financial and deadline challenges facing the $68 billion high-speed rail project are 36 miles of tunneling north of Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles Times analysis that includes interviews with experts on mega-projects.

October 28, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Controversial 'Bus and Bike' Ballot Measure on Seattle's November Ballot

Seattle voters will decide on Prop. 1, a $985 million transportation levy known as Move Seattle, unanimously endorsed by the City Council and strongly backed by Mayor Ed Murray. However, the bus and bike priorities attracted a well-funded opponent.

October 27, 2015 - King 5 News

Finding New Ways to Protect Trees in Rapidly Developing Cities

Citizens in developing corners of the world are prioritizing green infrastructure as they struggle to deal with the environmental consequences of rapid growth.

October 26, 2015 - The City Fix

Demystifying the Turning Radius and its Critical Importance to Street Safety

A MinnPost article explains the importance of a properly tuned turning radius while getting to the bottom of a controversial decision to remove pedestrian and bike infrastructure.

October 26, 2015 - MinnPost

Pretty City. Don't swim after storm.

Houston's Drainage Controversy Isn't Unique

Houston faces political conflict around a new drainage fee, meant to fund efforts to fix the city's crumbling infrastructure. Other cities could soon find themselves in a similar predicament.

October 26, 2015 - Next City

Denver Union Station

Denver's New Commuter Rail Line to Airport to Open in April

You will be forgiven for thinking you are looking at an East Coast commuter rail line: It's electrified with level boarding, mostly 15-minute headways, with bike and luggage racks, operating 22 hours a day from Denver's Union Station to the airport.

October 26, 2015 - The Denver Post

Construction

The Hidden Costs of Building Green

New green buildings may be de riguer, but preservation does less harm.

October 26, 2015 - Boston Society of Architects

Bicyclists White House

Gabe Klein's Vision for D.C. Transportation

Drawing on his experience with the Washington D.C. and Chicago departments of transportation, Gabe Klein shared his thoughts about transportation improvements in the capital—if money were no object.

October 26, 2015 - WAMU

6-year Transportation Reauthorization Passes Committee; 3-Week Extension Introduced

The bipartisan, $325 billion STRR Act unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Oct. 22. A three-week transportation funding extension bill was also introduced, as the Highway Trust Fund expires on Oct. 29.

October 25, 2015 - The Hill

Checking on the Status of Rebuild by Design

The hoopla has subsided surrounding nearly $1 billion awarded by HUD to fund coastal resilience projects on the Atlantic Coast, but the work of implementing the winning Rebuild by Design projects has continued.

October 25, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

Railroads Given Three More Years to Install Positive Train Control

Agreement has been reached by Congress to extend the vital but costly safety system said to prevent many train crashes. Had it not been reached, freight railroads warned they would shut down, as would passenger rail lines running on their tracks.

October 24, 2015 - The Hill

Regional Bike Trail Plan Extends West from Portland

Washington County, located just west of Portland, is planning a regional trail that could eventually reap benefits for recreation and transportation.

October 23, 2015 - Bike Portland

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.