Automobiles
New Books Depict Car Culture at a Turning Point
Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster By Paul Ingrassia Random House, 306 pages, $32 Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile and its Effect on Our Lives By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez Palgrave, 272 pages, $34 Automobiles dominate our economies, our cities and our popular culture. As these new titles make abundantly apparent, they also tend to imbue their makers and owners with either delusions or arrogance that can lead to dangerously misguided decision-making, both behind the wheel and in corporate boardrooms.
Clash of Subways and Car Culture in Chinese Cities
The question is whether the burrowing machines can outrace China’s growing love affair with the automobile.
The American Car
On an unexpected joyride in a souped-up BMW, a group of environmentalists ponder the past and future of cars.
Three Cheers for the Automobile
Former Congressman Ernest Istook discusses why the automobile is the ultimate manifestation of freedom, mobility, and personal choice, and argues for a re-allocation of public spending away from mass transit and other alternatives.
Racers Battle Civil War Buffs in N.C.
Banker Dave Ridson wants to build a racetrack on a site preservationists say is an historic Civil War site. But where the battle actually fought is a matter of debate.
Are transit ridership numbers more pomp than substance?
The American Public Transit Association reports that transit ridership climbed to 10.3 billion trips during the first quarter of 2008, the “highest number of trips taken in fifty years.” That represents a 3.3 percent increase overall over the previous year while vehicle miles traveled, a measure of demand for car travel, fell by 2.3 percent, they observe.
Rural U.S. Hit Hardest By Gas Prices
Gas prices have just surpassed the $4 mark, but the impact is far from uniform throughout the nation- poor, rural counties, particularly in the south and west, suffer disproportionately.
The Connection Between Gas Prices and Car Choice, Explained
The cartoon strip 'This Modern World' looks at how gas prices have influenced motorists' selection of motor vehicles in the United States - from the 1970's to 'five minutes from now'.
The ROI of Hybrids
With gas prices as they are, does it make sense to ditch your SUV and buy a hybrid? Count on the Wall St. Journal to break it down a discussion of your return on investment.
Canadians Also Confused By Traffic Circles
Americans are notoriously bad at navigating European-style traffic circles, but it seems Canadians are also confounded.
Horsepower vs Horse Power and Sustainability
How sustainable is the internal combustion engine? The answer depends, in part, on your historical perspective. This point becomes startlingly evident in a recent article by UCLA doctoral student Eric Morris in the most recent issue of Access magazine. The magazine publishes accessible versions of academic research and is published by the University of California Transportation Center at Berkeley.
Hybrid Nation?
My Toyota Prius just turned 100,000. That’s quite a milestone for a car and it may be a harbinger of things to come. Many planners are betting so-called “peak oil” will undermine our car culture because we won’t have the fuel to feed them. The history of my Prius suggests otherwise.
Beijing's traffic nightmare and public transit
BEIJING--When I first learned that I wouldn't be able to rent a car in Beijing, I was disappointed. That's how I usually break away from the business "bubble" to learn something about a city. But, it didn't take more than an hour to realize that I was better off with a local driver than tackling it myself. Driving habits, combined with roads choking with pedestrians, cars, buses, and taxis, convinced me I needed to leave the driving to a "pro".
Beauty and Function? We Should Expect Both
On the Sunday that the April Nor’easter dumped the second highest rainfall ever recorded in Central Park, I waded to the New York Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Center. I wasn’t there to see the mighty floor show of preening cars inside the convention center, I went to see the Taxi ’07 exhibition outside on the wind and rain swept lower roadway. For anyone who has tried to hail a taxi in a Manhattan rainstorm, visiting the exhibition on that Sunday raised a familiar feeling: nearly a dozen yellow taxis in sight, not one of which was going to pick me up and whisk me away to dry land.
Getting real about planning and mobility
After reading through dozens of long range transportation plans, I have to wonder if the planning profession is serious about improving mobility. By mobility, I mean improving the ability, speed, and efficiency of getting from point A to point B.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
