In the last year, two major cities — Buffalo, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut — have changed their zoning codes to eliminate minimum parking requirements. Despite seeming mundane, this change may become the single most impactful zoning regulatory reform of the 21st century.
In the next 20 years, fully autonomous vehicles will likely become a reality and many states have passed laws allowing the testing of driverless vehicles on public roads. These autonomous cars have the potential to reduce traffic crashes due to human error, increase highway capacity, and impact sustainability and human form. This article details opportunities for improvement offered by self-driving cars in urban areas and and discusses what planners can do to prepare for these driverless vehicles.
Each year, more than 700 bicyclists and 4500 pedestrians are killed in traffic accidents in the United States. This article explores efforts across the country to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, including a new safety strategy called Vision Zero. Vision Zero is modeled after programs in Sweden, where overall traffic deaths have been reduced by half since 2000 due to a focus on safety over speed in road design.
This article considers parking supply and demand in U.S. cities and the implications of reducing parking requirements. Highlighted are efforts in Sacramento, California, Columbus, Indiana, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Buffalo, New York to improve parking and increase economic potential.
A good wayfinding system can be an effective method of showing what a city has to offer. This article examines the keys to success in the development and implementation of wayfinding systems. The author describes long-term planning steps that include the development of a clear description of the project and its end-users, a civic brand statement, and a schedule for completion. He suggests that cities can better control project development by working with a consultant that can address wayfinding system design, planning, fabrication, installation and maintenance.
In this article, the author explores transportation needs in metropolitan Atlanta and implications for transportation planners. The article discusses the city's poor ranking in social mobility compared to other major U.S. cities and the role that transportation access and economic segregation may play. Detailed are the implications of the failed transportation regional sales tax in 2012, challenges to funding and operations of the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority (MARTA), and future plans for the Beltline transit system and the Atlanta streetcar. The article also discusses suburban transit planning and the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI), which uses transportation funding as incentive to encourage sustainable development.
In this article, the authors explore expanded possibilities for urban streets, proposing the increased use of rights-of-way for parks and recreation. They examine corridor plans, which take a holistic look at streets and often lead to streets that function as recreational spaces. They describe the repurposing of streets in U.S. cities in order to accommodate multiple modes and infrastructure demand, highlighting efforts in Houston, Texas and Lincoln, Nebraska. The authors suggest that multimodal use of rights-of-way, healthier neighborhoods and better placemaking benefit from good corridor plans, and they assert that a well-funded and executed plan can ultimately save a city millions of dollars.
Evaluating and quantifying the health impacts of alternative approaches to building communities is increasingly important for both public health and planning professionals. Evidence continues to grow that supports the link between public health and the built environment. This article describes the development of a scenario-building tool to evaluate health impacts. In addition to exploring the process of tool building, the authors test the tool via a case study. They compare current conditions to an adopted plan build-out for the Palomar Gateway District in Chula Vista, California. The scenario-planning tool serves to determine health impacts and inform changes to planned actions that would proactively promote positive health outcomes.
This article explores e-hailing, a novel mode of transportation in which riders find, reserve, and pay for rides in idle automobiles for hire. Digital dispatch companies combine software with global positioning system (GPS) and smartphone apps to link riders with different types of rides (i.e. black car limos, traditional taxis, private cars). The author highlights the challenges faced in major U.S. cities that have seen increased e-hailing, such as Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. These challenges include tensions between upstart digital dispatch firms and conventional taxi services, as companies such as Uber have battled taxi companies in court and face pressure from transportation regulators. Despite the friction between e-hailers and taxis, riders who are satisfied with e-hailing claim that its services are greener, friendlier and make more use of resources than conventional taxi systems; indeed, cities where e-transit has been tried have seen increased ridership and high consumer ratings. As digital dispatch companies expand to more cities, it remains to be seen how they will impact the transportation market and what impact regulatory pressure will have.
