The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Freewways

Local Officials Hoping for Minnesota DOT Funding Help With Congested Intersection

Commuters in the Twin Cities region are hoping for relief at the notoriously congested and unsafe interchange between Interstate 494 and I-35W.

April 18 - Star Tribune

Portland Cycling

Study: High-Visibility Clothing No Solution for Bike Safety

A recent study from researchers at the University of Bologna adds to a growing body of evidence regarding their effects of laws that require bicyclists to wear high-visibility clothing.

April 18 - Cycling Weekly

Car-Free Street

Replica, a New Tool from Sidewalk Labs, Takes Trip Data to the Next Level

Detailed reports on mode share, in real time and over time, are available with Replica.

April 18 - Sidewalk Labs

Home For Sale Signs

No Two Property Taxes Are Alike

The annual "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study" is available examines the imbalances across jurisdictions, and even within jurisdictions, when it comes to property taxes.

April 17 - At Lincoln House

USDOT Awards $96 Million to BRT Projects in Washington, Missouri and Commuter Rail in California

On April 9, FTA awarded $43 million for a new, 12-mile bus rapid transit line in Everett; $30 million to extend BRT 10 miles in Kansas City and $22.5 million to extend a North Bay commuter rail line two miles to a ferry terminal on San Francisco Bay.

April 17 - AASHTO Journal


Community Stairway

Private Equity Startup Offers Small Scale Public Development Investments

Startup, Cooperative Capital, allows investors to buy into community investment projects and vote on which projects to fund.

April 17 - Fast Company

Dockless Bikeshare Service Launches in St. Louis, With City's Blessing

The city of St. Louis has launched a permitting system for dockless bikeshare companies LimeBike and Ofo to operate.

April 17 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Electric Scooters

Scooter Mania in San Francisco

Entitled tech bros! Disrupted sidewalks! Mass impound sweeps! Social media convulsions!

April 17 - TechCrunch

BART System

Bay Area Transit Agencies to Consider 20 Percent Fare Reduction for Low-Income Riders

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission could implement a 20 percent plan to offer fare relief for low-income riders.

April 17 - San Francisco Chronicle

Denver TOD

Denver to Use Marijuana Taxes to Underwrite Affordable Housing Bonds

Mayor Michael Hancock has proposed a funding scheme to ramp up affordable housing production in the city of Denver.

April 17 - The Denver Post

Short-Term Rentals

New York City Council Wants More Funding to Go After Airbnb Scofflaws

New York rules have rules about short-term rentals are supposed to work. That doesn't mean everyone is following them.

April 17 - Crain's New York Business

Suburban School Crossing

Pushing Back on 'Suburban Triumphalism'

Interested observers have been predicting a crest of the American "back to the city" movement for years now—the idea that as Millennials come of age they will lose interest in urban lifestyles and seek the comfort of the suburbs.

April 17 - City Observatory

Amazon Fulfillment Center

The Amazon Opportunity to Revitalize Urban Communities

If corporations continue to be able to take public subsidy as the price of locating in an area, maybe the debate isn't whether to offer subsidies but simply how and for what to offer them. Here’s one incentive that might actually benefit communities.

April 17 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Suburban Pittsburgh

After Legal Setback, Pittsburgh to Appeal 'Source of Income' Decision

Pittsburgh will continue its pursuit of a "source of income" law to protect against housing discrimination.

April 16 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Self-Driving Delivery Vehicle

Ford Readying a Fleet of Self-Driving Cars for 2021

Key features of Ford's plans for a fleet of shared autonomous vehicles potentially telegraph how the first wave of at-scale adoption will take place.

April 16 - Engadget

Riverfront Open Space

Mayor Emanuel Wants to Open More of the Chicago River to the Public

Plans to double the length of publicly accessible riverfront will be included in Mayor Rahm Emanuel's State of the City address tonight.

April 16 - Chicago Sun Times

Seattle

Regional Planning for Growth on Display in the Pacific Northwest

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) released a new "Regional Centers Framework."

April 16 - The Urbanist

BART Station

Vote to Take Money from Train Station to Pay for a New Road Causes a Stir

An expanded roadway outside the Union City BART station would mean more drivers and likely more congestion. City and county officials still argue those changes are necessary for the area around the station to function.

April 16 - East Bay Times

Boise Idaho

Growth and Change Take Hold in Boise

Rapid growth is now the trend in a region that faced some of the worst effects of the Great Recession.

April 16 - The Wall Street Journal

SMART Bus

Detroit CEOs Want a Regional Transit Plan

The idea has failed before, most recently in 2016, but the attempt at wooing Amazon has the idea of a regional approach to public transit back on the table in Detroit.

April 16 - Crain's Detroit Business

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