Blogs

June 27, 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 16, 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 22, 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 5, 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 3, 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 5, 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 25, 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 5, 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 9, 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 9, 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 4, 2017

Congress on Road to AV Legislation Vote

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

August 21, 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 13, 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 24, 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 10, 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 18, 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 17, 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 26, 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 20, 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 16, 2016

Post-Election Optimism for Infrastructure

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

October 11, 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 19, 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 18, 2016

Bike Tour Shows Off D.C. Infrastructure at Policy and Advocacy Conference

Twenty Policy and Advocacy Conference attendees got a pedaling view of Washington, D.C., and its bicycle infrastructure.

September 14, 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 13, 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 11, 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 1, 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 25, 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 25, 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 14, 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 5, 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 14, 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 14, 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 6, 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 5, 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.

May 24, 2016

Aviation and Economic Development Equals Aerotropolis

An exploration of the impact of an aerotropolis as a tool for economic development, sustainability, and growth management.

May 19, 2016

APA Staff Takes Part in National Bike to Work Day

APA staff share their thoughts on National Bike to Work Day and why supporting bicycle infrastructure is important.

May 17, 2016

Beyond Mobility: Transportation's Role in Achieving Equity

This episode of APA's podcast takes a look at the important role transportation plays in creating paths to opportunity.

May 16, 2016

Share Why Bike #InfrastructureMatters

Show how the infrastructure in your community supports or discourages biking as a healthy alternative to driving.

May 9, 2016

Inside Look: Grand Opening of KC Streetcar

For the first time in more than 50 years, streetcars are running along the streets of Kansas City. APA was on the ground for the grand opening to get the inside scoop.

May 4, 2016

Podcast: The Streetcar Returns to Kansas City

Kyle Elliott, division manager from the Department of Long Range Planning & Preservation for Kansas City, and David Johnson, vice chair at the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance, discuss the Kansas City streetcar project.

April 11, 2016

Advocates in Action at NPC

This year's National Planning Conference offered attendees a plethora of ways to shape the direction of APA policy issues.

April 4, 2016

Running Roosevelt Row

An early-morning run down Phoenix's Roosevelt Row shows off the area's murals, bungalows, infill development, transit stations, and galleries.

April 3, 2016

Opening Keynote: The Future Is Sooner than You Think

Futurist Jack Uldrich delivered the opening keynote address at the 2016 National Planning Conference in Phoenix.

March 29, 2016

HUD's Prosperity Playbook Could Boost Denver Housing and Transportation

Planner Susan Wood explains the importance of HUD's Prosperity Playbook for housing and transportation.

March 21, 2016

Community Assistance in Phoenix: Linking the Southside

Planners will get involved with the Phoenix planned light rail extension along South Central Avenue as part of the 2016 AICP Community Planning Workshop.