Inside the efforts to clean up and improve the centerpiece of Detroit’s transit system.
Eric D. Lawrence reports on the problems plaguing the Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit—opened in 2009 with a price tag of $22.5 million. Lawrence describes the transit center’s electronic signage, bathrooms, and ticket machines as frequently and indefinitely out of order, and a city plan to spend $625,000 to improve the facility is called inadequate by transit advocates.
According to Lawrence, the advocacy group Motor City Freedom Riders has been leading the effort to lobby for more investment in the facility. Until they have find success, some local officials have even suggested changing the name of the center if it did better reflect its namesake.
FULL STORY: Problems mar Rosa Parks Transit Center; city plans fixes
Detroit Transit Agency Requests $20M Budget Increase
The Detroit Department of Transportation wants to boost ridership by hiring more drivers, buying new buses, and enhancing station infrastructure.
Analysis: Just 5 Percent of Detroit Bus Stops Have Shelters
The city’s thousands of bus stops are sorely lacking in seating and shelters to protect riders from rain, snow, and sun.
Electric Car Share Comes to Detroit’s Eastside
The program is operated by the Eastside Community Network and funded through the U.S. Department of Energy.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
If allowed to operate on the traffic-restricted street, Waymo’s autonomous taxis would have a leg up over ride-hailing competitors — and counter the city’s efforts to grow bike and pedestrian on the thoroughfare.
Parklet Symposium Highlights the Success of Shared Spaces
Parklets got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the concept was translated to outdoor dining programs that offered restaurants a lifeline during the shutdown.
Federal Homelessness Agency Places Entire Staff on Leave
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is the only federal agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service