U.S. Department of Transportation

Atlanta Skyline

The Deliberate Segregation of U.S. Cities, as Evidenced by Freeway Congestion

A thorough and damning indictment of 20th century land use and infrastructure planning, and its contemporary legacy of segregation and congestion.

August 15, 2019 - The New York Times Magazine

Electric Bus

6 Electric Buses Coming to Atlanta

A federal grant puts Atlanta among the vanguard of cities introducing electric bus technology to the streets.

July 30, 2019 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Elaine Chao

Scrutiny for U.S. DOT Secretary Elaine Chao's Entangled Interests

The results of two recent investigations allege questionable ethical practices by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, connected to the secretary's family shipping business and marriage to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

June 11, 2019 - The New York Times

Multi-Modal Transportation

U.S. Department of Transportation Launches Two New University Transportation Centers

The University of South Florida and Washington State University were chosen as the locations for new University Transportation Centers (UTCs) over 51 competitors. There are now UTCs at 37 universities.

June 10, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Freeway Interchange

A Call for a New Approach to Federal Transportation Policy

According to this blog post, federal transportation policies are misdirected, inconsistent, and destructive. A comprehensive overhaul of federal transportation policy is necessary.

May 29, 2019 - Transportation for America

Freeway Construction

Analysis of U.S. DOT BUILD Grants Raises Critical Issues About Spending Priorities

Transportation for America is crunching the numbers on how the Trump administration has shifted transportation funding programs since it took over the TIGER grant program and made it into the BUILD grant program.

April 30, 2019 - Transportation for America

Recreational Vehicle

$1.5 Billion in BUILD Grants Funding for Transportation Projects Awarded

The U.S. Department of Transportation has favored grant funding for rural communities under the Trump administration.

April 23, 2019 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

Portland, Oregon

$1.36 Billion in Federal Transit Administration Grants Awarded

The Federal Transit Administration announced a new round of funding for the Capital Investment Grants program last week.

April 15, 2019 - Federal Transit Administration

Rail Transit

Trump Administration Continues to Delay Allocated Transit Funds

The Federal Transit Administration is still holding much of the funding promised by Congress since 2017. It's unlikely that anyone likely to vote for Trump again in 2020 is losing any sleep over money not spent on public transit infrastructure.

March 19, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

New York New Jersey Transit

Mixed Messages on Federal Spending Bill's Attention to Gateway Rail Project

Project supporters and the Trump administration disagree on the takeaway for the Gateway project after Congress and the president signed a federal spending bill earlier this month.

February 21, 2019 - Bloomberg

Border

Trump Administration Targets California High-Speed Rail After Border Wall Lawsuit

The Trump administration has canceled a nearly $1 billion grant assigned to the California high-speed rail project and is attempting to get the state to return the $2.5 billion it has already spent on the $77 billion project.

February 21, 2019 - The New York Times

BART Station Construction

Effects of Federal Shutdown Only Beginning to Show at Local and State Transportation Agencies

Effects of the partial shutdown of the federal government differ between state highway departments and local transit agencies. Some effects aren't yet apparent, but could be soon.

January 16, 2019 - Governing

Columbus Ohio

Columbus Program Will Help Pregnant Women With Transportation

The program aims to address infant mortality by improving transportation access so women can more easily get prenatal care and other services.

January 6, 2019 - CityLab

Purple Line Extension

Transit Oriented Development Planning Funding Awarded to 20 Agencies

The Maryland Department of Transportation was the big winner in the Federal Transit Administration's Transit-Oriented Development Pilot Planning Program, with $2 million in grant funding.

January 3, 2019 - The Sentinel

Amtrak Acela

Positive Train Control Deadline: Rail Systems Go 4 for 41

A decade after Congress set a deadline for rail systems to implement positive train control, only 4 rail systems were able to get the job done on time.

January 2, 2019 - CNN

Road Construction

$1.5 Billion in BUILD Grants Announced

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced funding winners for the BUILD grant program, which replaced TIGER this year. The differences between the two programs are immediately obvious.

December 12, 2018 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Tardy Transit Funding Arrives in Los Angeles, Twin Cities

They had to wait the better part of a year, but two major transit projects finally have the funding Congress allocated in March.

November 29, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

Seattle Transit

Sound Transit's Lynwood Link Gets the Federal Funding it Was Waiting For

A great sigh of relief from transit planners in the Pacific Northwest (and probably the rest of the country as well).

November 21, 2018 - The Seattle Times

Road Construction

Ten Years of Highway Trust Fund Insolvency

Earlier this month marked the ten-year anniversary of an event that lives in infamy in the annals of the federal government.

September 11, 2018 - Eno Transportation Weekly

Trump Administration Proposes to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards at 2020 Level

On Thursday, the U.S. DOT and U.S. EPA announced one of the Trump administration's most consequential rollbacks of environmental and efficiency regulations that will have a detrimental effect on climate change, air pollution, and oil consumption.

August 5, 2018 - The Washington Post

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.