Urban Planning

Movements opposing changes to land use and transportation development policies can thwart initiatives capable of confronting urban quality of life challenges, city officials said recently. Some advised pushing back.

A $30 million project to modernize bus shelters in Los Angeles considers them as mobility hubs that could house modern amenities like digital screens, e-bike and e-scooter docking, dimmable lights and movable shade structures.

The municipality is considering offering the company a grant worth up to $847,500 to open an operations center for its new artificial intelligence-powered shipping platform. The organization already runs a distribution center in the city.

The city, part of North Carolina's Research Triangle, is using a digital twin model empowered by GIS and artificial intelligence to plan for and address urban heat. It drives understanding of how development and heat will interact.

New research from the Urbanism Next Center shows e-scooter parking areas need to be spaced within a few hundred meters of each other to see the highest use and to help declutter sidewalks.

Reducing traffic deaths is a compelling proposition, but it gets complicated when trying to make it so.

City Councilmembers in the Silicon Valley city recently voted to seek state and federal funding to cover a portion of the service’s annual cost. Other operational details remain to be resolved, including how far users would be able to travel.

The redesigned platform — believed to be the first of its kind at launch — enhances how residents, businesses and governments can access and view statewide land ownership data. Mobile performance and print functions are also improved.

Reasoning that the electric vehicle market is likely to grow, and retrofitting is expensive, the St. Paul, Minn., City Council may require future lots with more than 15 spaces to be EV-ready. They would have to have conduit for charging stations.

In late April, the San Diego City Council will consider a contract that would commission public charging stations at an array of city facilities. Councilmembers wonder whether revenue generated will sufficiently cover reimbursement costs.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is working with Purdue University and power unit maker Cummins to build a segment that can wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they are driven. The stretch of road will be roughly one-quarter mile.

The AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone in Fort Worth is becoming a center for developing next-gen transportation technologies. It’s situated near an interstate, rail lines and an air cargo hub.

Cities and states are working on novel solutions to old, intractable problems. Governing magazine’s return to print showcases stories of the people who are making them work across the country.

Faced with increasing traffic and declining gas tax revenue, policymakers and city planners are taking another look at dynamic pricing. If you love buying airline and concert tickets, they have got a deal for you.

The federal grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will pay for a project to increase safety in the downtown Fremont Street area, including using AI to adjust traffic signals and the timing of crossing flashers.

The refreshed metrics dashboard offers more insights into vacation rental compliance and tourism metrics. It lets officials get a sense of where travelers hail from and how much they’re spending — but also which properties may not conform.

The company has state approval to expand use of its driverless taxis outside San Francisco but caution and permitting are keeping it off freeways and away from San Francisco International Airport for now.

The Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, a higher education, government and business consortium, is seeking a grant worth $160 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation. It now has only partial funding from Congress.