Transit

Charles Marohn: Not Your Typical Urbanist
From his home in Brainerd, Minnesota (population 13,500), this fiscally conservative engineer leads a growing movement. His slow-and-steady approach to urban development has real bipartisan appeal.

Gondola Monorail Could Ease Mexico City Traffic
Mexico City is considering a novel transit idea: two-person gondolas gliding along an aerial track. The costs of such a system may be far lower than extending the subway system.

Study to Address Staten Island Transportation Deserts
Residents of Staten Island suffer from very long commutes, and many rely on cars. The New York City Council has proposed a study to determine how additional transit could be implemented in the borough.

Asian Subways Are the Busiest
Rankings from the International Association of Public Transport have Tokyo on top, followed by Beijing and Shanghai. New York comes in seventh.

Report: Cutting Urban Emissions Could Save $17 Trillion
Research from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate recommends an emissions reduction program that might pay off big in the long term. Inter-city exchange and transit planning are key strategies.
Report: Transit Ridership Dropped in First Half of 2015
Fears that low gas prices and increasing vehicle miles traveled would negatively affect transit ridership might have come true in the first half of the year, according to data provided by the American Public Transportation Association.

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.

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.

Research Offers Lessons on Bicycle Planning
This past week at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning conference, planning academics shared their research on planning for bicycles including bike sharing, bicycle education, and the use of cargo bicycles.

Transit Use Thrives on Destination Density
If jobs, services, and other urban amenities are concentrated downtown, suburbanites can use transit to get there quickly without a car. Job sprawl makes transit useless outside central districts.
5 Tips for Analyzing Transit Service
Esri offers insights into five new ways to analyze the success of transit service in cities of all kinds.

Light Rail Leading the Way in the Sun Belt
Cities traditionally thought of as car-centric are putting ambitious light rail plans at the center of ambitious plans for transit.
Dallas Puts New Downtown Light Rail Line on the Fast Track
The Dallas City Council has given preliminary approval to a proposed light rail line, currently called D2, which would add service capacity to the downtown core.

Transportation Apps Designed to Ease the Commute
We all travel, so it's great when a handy new mobile app makes it easier to move around. Whether it is navigating the city, parking, or making our ride safer, there is likely a transportation app for that.
Op-Ed: Nashville Should Coordinate Transit, Housing Plans
Urban planning is front in center in Nashville, with a general plan update underway and a mayoral election looming on August 6. One candidate took to the editorial pages of The Tennessean to lay out a housing and transit agenda.
Op-Ed: Infrastructure First, Redevelopment Second for Staten Island
With big plans come big responsibilities. Will a massive wave of development investment headed for Staten Island be met with a commensurate investment in infrastructure?

Enabling Travel Through Your Smartphone: Mobility as a Service
Imagine on your phone being able to wake up and with a simple click be able to arrange all of your transportation needs for the day. Soon your bus pass, carsharing pass, bikesharing pass, and your personal vehicle will go away—replaced by an app.
Aerial Tram Proposed to Connect Staten Island and Manhattan
A proposal to build a $175 million tram across the New York Harbor has the support of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation and a mayor who is willing to listen.
Friday Funny: When Subway Announcements Get Real
A McSweeney's post satirizes the obfuscations and euphemisms of public transit system announcements by finally putting things in brutally frank terms.
Caltrans Sets Ambitious Targets for Alternative Transportation
Following a string of developments in 2014 pushing the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) toward more multi-modal planning, a new Strategic Management Plan lays out ambitious goals for the increased use of alternative modes.
Pagination
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