Technology

New York City To Test Speed Limiting Tech on City Vehicles
Advocates hope the city’s plan to install speed governors on part of its municipal fleet will prompt other cities and government agencies to follow suit.

The Sound of Silence: Designing Electric Vehicles for Safety
Near-silent electric vehicles pose a danger to people with visual impairments, so engineers are studying ways to make the vehicles audible while maintaining the benefits of quieter streets.

Digital Tool ‘Gamifies’ Planning Decisions
Interactive platforms help stakeholders visualize and understand the challenges faced by planners in distributing new housing construction, building infrastructure, and other projects.

'Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences'
The American Planning Association's free "State of Transportation Planning Report" includes more than two dozen interesting and entertaining chapters by diverse authors on the subjects of planning resilience, equity, technology and mobility.

Missing From the Climate-Energy Legislation: Bikes!
Missing from the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, the significant climate legislation which passed the Senate on a 51-50 party-line vote on Sunday with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, is any mention of bikes.

'Inflation Reduction Act' a Mixed Bag for Climate Action, Planning Innovation
A roundup of all the emerging news and commentary regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, which last week broke through a Congressional roadblock to resuscitate some, but not nearly all, of the Build Back Better legislation that failed in 2021.

What Is GIS?
GIS software, which combines location information with data about a range of other attributes, has become an indispensable tool for mapping and spatial analysis in urban planning and dozens of other fields.

Opinion: Stop Trusting Elon Musk—on Tunnels, on Teslas, on Everything
Musk has leveraged social media intrigue and a hot streak on the market to become the standard bearer for autonomous vehicle technology. Trust Tesla at public peril, argues James Brasuell in this opinion piece.

New York Councilmembers Seek Action Against Cashless ‘Fast-Delivery’ Stores
After the city instituted a ban on cashless businesses, calling the model discriminatory against poor New Yorkers who rely on cash transactions, a study found that more than 80 percent of new fast-delivery stores don’t accept cash.

Quayside 2.0 Rejects the ‘Smart City’
In a reversal from Sidewalk Labs’ now-defunct tech-heavy proposal, Toronto’s new plan for the waterfront development known as Quayside emphasizes greenery and nature.

Behind the Allure of the ‘Smart City’
The glamour of digital technology can obscure the hard work of building healthy, sustainable cities.

How Micromobility Can Improve Last-Mile Delivery
Facilitating the use of micromobility devices for the last mile of urban deliveries can reduce congestion, lower emissions, and take bigger vehicles off small neighborhood roads.

Energy Department Resumes Loan Program with Hydrogen Storage
The Energy Department's loan office, known for a bad loan to the solar panel startup Solyndra in 2011, will loan $504 million to a company that will use renewable energy to create 'green hydrogen' and store it in salt caverns in Utah.

How Safe Are Autonomous Vehicles?
Federal regulators are just starting to gain an understanding of how vehicles with automation systems impact traffic safety.

How Digital Mapping Can Reinforce Inequity
Digital mapping tools like Google Street View often obscure the realities of cities and concentrate their resources in the wealthiest countries, effectively ‘erasing’ some places from the global map.

Say Goodbye to the ‘Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy’
The era of cheap, on-demand services is coming to a close as unprofitable startups face the realities of capitalism.

Micromobility Growing in Smaller Cities
Shared mobility services are proliferating in small towns and cities, despite the regulatory hiccups operators have been experiencing in larger markets.

Desalination and Water Recycling Needed to Increase Bay Area Water Supply
In an ongoing drought exacerbated by climate change, the Bay Area needs to look toward two technologies to secure adequate drinking water supply: desalination and wastewater recycling, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Examiner.

Twitter for Planners in 2022
Twitter is changing, not in the way Elon Musk wants it to, but it’s still perhaps the most useful social media platform for planners looking for education and engagement.

The Electric Scooter Rebound
The nascent electric scooter rental industry came close to total collapse during the pandemic, but riders are back in bigger numbers than ever and the companies hope to build momentum on growing concerns about the climate impacts of transportation.
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