Traffic Calming
New York Court Ruling: Cities Are Liable for Unsafe Streets
Traffic safety and Vision Zero advocates scored a major victory recently at the New York Court of Appeals.
Dallas Mixes Residential Development With a Road Diet, Gets Controversy
The Dallas City Council approved a road diet for Knox Street in Dallas, where 1,000 residential units are under construction on an already thriving commercial corridor.
Study Finds Speed Humps May Have a Pollution Problem
The forced slow-and-go caused by speed humps may have the unintended consequences of increasing the release of the tiny particles that have proven harmful to health within a concentrated area.
Boston Lowers Speed Limits to 20 MPH—Columnist Sees Opportunity for Satire
A Boston Globe columnist met the news that the city would reduce speed limits to 20 mph on some residential streets with scorn and snark.
Edinburgh Sets 20-mph Speed Limit
Citing pedestrian and cyclist casualties, the Scottish capital will reduce speed limits on 80 percent of its streets to a mere 20 mph. Backers are pushing for additional complete streets improvements.
Pavement Parks: a Better Parklet Alternative
Too often, street-side parklets become little more than semi-private patios for the businesses that sponsor them. Pavement parks, replacing dangerous intersections, may be a more worthwhile option.
Houten, Netherlands: Where Cars and Bikes Coexist
Well-known in transportation planning circles, Houten's suburban multi-modality can be found almost nowhere else. Perimeter ring roads, train access, and bike-friendly features have cut car trips down to 44 percent.
Op-Ed: Los Angeles Walkability Needs More Crosswalks
Although Los Angeles isn't famous for its walking culture, many neighborhoods are actually quite suited for it. That is, if streets could be made friendlier to the pedestrians they currently repel.
Narrower Lanes, Safer Streets
A new study indicates that the safest urban streets have lanes that measure 10-10.5 feet wide. Narrower and wider lanes have higher crash frequencies, and wider lanes have higher crash severity.
Bold Plans Unveiled for Converting Durham's Historic Downtown Loop
The city of Durham hosted a public workshop this week to discuss urban design plans for converting a circuitous couplet to a two-way street grid.
On the Pros and Cons of Driveways
Whether driveways are anti-urban or 'anti-pedestrian' depends on how we segregate street uses. As shared spaces where they cross sidewalks, driveways inform the wider question: what makes for a good street?
Florida Backs Miami Complete Streets Initiative
The Florida DOT has approved Miami's plan to rework busy Biscayne Boulevard. In the spirit of Complete Streets, vehicle lanes will be reduced and pedestrian/bike spaces expanded.
Study: Dynamic Road Signs Make for Better Drivers
A psychological experiment finds that warning signs depicting more movement gain more attention, making drivers navigate more carefully.
Golden Gate Bridge Safety Measures Inspire Drivers to Speed
In more proof of how far perceived safety goes in establishing the speed of drivers, the California Highway Patrol is dealing with the unintended consequences of changes on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Kansas City Proceeding with the First of (Possibly) Many Road Diets
Mike Hendricks reports on road diet plans for Grand Boulevard in Downtown Kansas City.
Traffic Safety Requires a 'Psychological Speed Limit'
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed a bill this month reducing the speed limit in New York City. But what will it take to get people to actually slow down, especially when speeding is an acceptable social norm?
Downtown Berkeley Getting the Permeable Pavement Treatment
The city of Berkeley is undergoing a pilot installation of permeable pavement for a road calming project by Berkeley High School. The pilot has better storm water drainage, a smaller carbon footprint, and less maintenance than traditional asphalt.
Nation's Most Dangerous City for Pedestrians Becoming Safer
A Smart Growth America report put the spotlight on Orlando and the entire state of Florida as leading the nation in pedestrian deaths per capita. NPR investigate what is being done to lose the infamous title.
Rethinking Streets: New Report Illustrates Complete Streets Projects
"Rethinking Streets," a new report by the University of Oregon's Sustainable Cities Initiative, provides detailed information on 25 complete streets and streetscaping projects. It is available free in PDF and hard copy format.
Guerrilla Traffic Calming Efforts Elicit Mixed Responses
A recent article surveys a few examples of residents in cities around the country employing tactical urbanism. As tactical urbanism has been adopted in different ways in different cities, so to have the reactions of city leaders varied.
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
