Blogs

July 16, 2020

Where the Future of Transportation Is Leading Planners

Uncovering JAPA: The future of transportation remains uncertain, but scenario planning may help. Explore where planners might be headed.

June 4, 2020

A Simple Path to Sustainable Transportation

Uncovering JAPA: Shared autonomous vehicles will be part of the future, but do we need them to achieve sustainable transportation?

May 27, 2020

A Necessary Paradigm Shift in How We Use Urban Space

What planning changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic will be interim fixes, and which will stay permanently?

May 7, 2020

A "Wheely" Good Way to Save Commercial Corridors

Uncovering JAPA: How do we bring back the commercial corridor? In Toronto, the answer might be more bikes and fewer cars.

March 26, 2020

Painting a Richer Picture of Older Adults' Mobility Needs

Uncovering JAPA: Interviews, focus groups, and walking audits can be added to statistics to help create a full picture of the mobility needs of older adults.

September 5, 2019

Changing California's Way of Measuring Traffic Could Equal More Housing

Uncovering JAPA: Switching from Level of Service (LOS) measurement to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) could streamline the development process in California.

August 22, 2019

No Eyes on the Street: City Officials and the Future of AVs

Uncovering JAPA: Cities have only dipped their toes in the water when it comes to regulating autonomous vehicles and their technology.

August 2, 2019

Federal Surface Transportation Debate Shifts Into High Gear

The nation's current surface transportation law is set to expire on September 30, 2020. Learn where work on the bill stands now, the legislative process ahead, and how planners can influence the outcome.

July 25, 2019

Ride-Hailing Could Boost Mobility Beyond Rich, Urban Areas

Uncovering JAPA: Ride-hail services are used by a wide range of people around Los Angeles, suggesting that they might provide increased mobility in rural, suburban, and low-income areas.

May 13, 2019

Planners Adapt as Infrastructure Gets Smarter

Technology is changing the ways we commute and communicate. How is this evolution influencing the physical shared space around us and the way it is managed?

April 11, 2019

San Francisco Is Working to Ensure Mobility Technology Advances Our Goals

“Emerging mobility” is rapidly changing how people — and products — get around. But how should public spaces facilitate these emerging mobility services?

February 13, 2019

Shape APA Policy Guides on Equity, Housing, and Surface Transportation

APA members are invited to comment on draft APA policy guides on equity, housing, and surface transportation. The authors of each guide discuss the ideas behind each guide and offer tips for how to make the most of the member comment period.

October 11, 2018

Plan4Health Success Story: Missouri Uses Pop-up Traffic Calming Demonstrations

The Planners4Health initiative in Missouri addressed safety concerns by implementing traffic calming demonstration projects in sites across the state.

June 28, 2018

Plan4Health Success Story: Creating a Sidewalk Without Building a Sidewalk in Maine

The Planners4Health project in Northern New England implemented a traffic calming demonstration in Gray, Maine, to engage planners and public health professionals in healthy design strategies.

May 17, 2018

Complete Streets + Green Infrastructure = Vital Streets

This Infrastructure Week we're highlighting the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which revolutionized its approach to designing, maintaining, and using its streets over the past five years.

April 23, 2018

Can Planners Get Ahead of the Autonomous Vehicle Wave?

Autonomous vehicles sessions continued to draw crowds on Monday at the 2018 National Planning Conference where more than 20 sessions on the topic are on offer.

April 6, 2018

Planning for the Transition to Shared Autonomous Vehicles

Workshop participants at the 2018 National Shared Mobility Summit worked through three scenarios on Chicago’s streets to understand the demand for automated travel.

April 4, 2018

Blue Bikes in the Big Easy

Blue Bikes, New Orleans's bike share system, was launched in December 2017. Learn about the planning and implementation process and how to use them to get around at NPC18.

March 6, 2018

Transit a Focus of Next DOT Automated Vehicle Policy

The U.S. Department of Transportation held a listening summit in Washington to preview its AV 3.0 guidance set for a summer release date.

February 26, 2018

Planning for AVs: The Time Is Now

APA Research Director David Rouse, FAICP, outlines the work APA is doing to help planners and the profession prepare for the coming wave of autonomous vehicles.

February 6, 2018

Autonomous Vehicles: States Pave the Way

Technology is rapidly expanding our transit choices, and states are taking notice. What’s new for autonomous vehicles at the state level thus far in 2018?

November 10, 2017

Transportation Is One Key to Livable Communities for All Ages

Transportation is highlighted in the first of a series of blog posts on APA's Plan4Health webinar and seminar on “Planning Livable Communities for All Ages."

October 10, 2017

Autonomous Vehicles Symposium Addresses Mobility for All

Eighty-five of the nation's top thinkers on autonomous and connected vehicles (AV) gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss and plan for the impacts of AV on cities and regions.

September 5, 2017

Congress on Road to AV Legislation Vote

Congress returns this week with autonomous vehicles (AVs) on a lengthy to-do list.

August 22, 2017

Plan4Health Success Story: Active Transportation Community of Interest

Through Plan4Health, the Puyallup Watershed Initiative’s Active Transportation Community of Interest in Pierce County, Washington, aimed to increase access to transportation options and educate the community.

August 14, 2017

Tell Your Representatives: It's Time to Fund THUD

Congress is home. Tell your representatives to fund THUD before the looming budget deadline and the start of FY 2018 on October 1, 2017.

July 25, 2017

Driverless Cars, Planning, and Architecture

Planners, architects, and related professionals gathered at the APA offices in Chicago to discuss the potential changes coming with driverless vehicles.

July 11, 2017

Congress Behind on Budget and Appropriations Work, Again

Congress moves on the Budget and Appropriations Process, but uncertainty still looms for Fiscal Year 2018.

January 19, 2017

Michigan Joins Small Number of States With Self-Driving Car Laws

New state laws allowing for the testing of autonomous vehicles look ahead to the possibilities of the technology and the role of planning.

January 18, 2017

Podcast: Previewing APA's Infrastructure Principles

APA's Legislative and Policy Committee Chair Kara Drane, AICP, previews our forthcoming Infrastructure Principles, talks about how members can get involved, and outlines what to expect from the Legislative and Policy Committee in 2017.

December 27, 2016

Autonomous Vehicles Zoom into Public Imagination in 2016

The explosion of interest in autonomous vehicles (AVs) is one of the top planning stories of 2016.

October 21, 2016

Keeping a Bike Plan in High Gear: Montgomery County's Public Engagement Plan

David Anspacher, lead planner for Montgomery County Planning Department's Bicycle Master Plan, explains how the department executed its long-term master plan.

October 17, 2016

Post-Election Optimism for Infrastructure

There's reason for optimism in 2017 for federal infrastructure programs and funding following the election.

October 12, 2016

New Federal Grants Boost Transit Oriented Development Planning

Federal Transit Administration recently announced $14.7 million in new transit-oriented development (TOD) planning grants. This year’s funding supports 16 grants in cities and regions around the country.

September 20, 2016

Change the Street, Change the World

Julián Castro and Janette Sadik-Khan explored the theme of ingenuity in communities at APA's 2016 Policy and Advocacy Conference.

September 15, 2016

Slow Your Street: A St. Louis Traffic Calming Success Story

Less than a year after pop-up traffic calming demonstrations in the city of St. Louis, permanent infrastructure changes have been installed on neighborhood streets.

September 14, 2016

Better Transportation Plans, Better Communities

Deron Lovaas of the Natural Resource Defense Council looks at what the Federal Highway Administration's proposal to incorporate Green House Gas performance measures in transportation plans could mean for planners.

September 12, 2016

Smart City Challenge Winner Readies for Implementation

APA member Kathleen McMahon, AICP, goes behind the scenes with the City of Columbus, Ohio, to find out what's next for the Smart City Challenge winner.

September 2, 2016

The Quaint Columbus Neighborhood That Is Ready to Get Smart

German Village may be known more for preservation than innovation, but Columbus’s Smart Cities grant has its leaders excited for the future.

August 26, 2016

Enlightening Students Through the Built Environment: Active Transportation

The Built Environment Education Program (BEEP) in San Diego, led by Benjamin Martinez, educates its students on how street design and active transportation shape their communities.

August 26, 2016

New Taxing Districts Access Federal Transit Funds for Chicago

Special transit tax increment financing districts have been created by Illinois to help assist in funding transportation improvements.

August 15, 2016

Smart Cities, Smart Mobility

Planning for Shared Mobility, a PAS report from APA, brings together real-world examples of shared mobility policies and best practices from cities across the United States.

July 6, 2016

Cities Subsidize Ride-Sharing to Boost Transportation Connections

The integration of ride-sharing services into municipal funding decisions holds the potential to be a low-cost way of boosting transportation investment and promoting regional integration.

June 15, 2016

Automated Vehicles and the Next Great Transformation of the Built Environment

Researchers at Florida State University and the Florida Department of Transportation document how automated vehicles may transform the built environment in coming decades.

June 15, 2016

Planning for the Autonomous Vehicle Revolution

A planner's review of "Envisioning Florida’s Future: Transportation and Land Use in an Automated Vehicle World," a report on how autonomous vehicles may transform the built environment in the coming decades.

June 7, 2016

Smart Cities: Behind the Scenes With Austin, Portland, San Francisco

This is the second of a two-part series on the plans behind DOT's Smart City Challenge.

June 6, 2016

Congress Moves Forward on Transportation, Housing Spending

Significant progress was made in both the House and Senate in finalizing funding for housing, community development, and transportation programs in the FY2017 fiscal year.