Minneapolis 2040 sets new bar for what’s possible


This month on Building Better Communities with Transit , we’re joined by Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender to learn about their recent comprehensive plan update. The city used the update to revamp its zoning, set ambitious goals for climate change, and pointedly address equity and racial disparities in the city.

Transportation

New “playbook” provides a guide for how cities can manage shared micromobility services


Produced in collaboration with 23 cities, Transportation for America released a new “Playbook” to help cities think about how to best manage shared micromobility services like dockless bikes, electric scooters, and other new technologies that are rapidly being deployed in cities across the country.

Transportation

‘Crossroads of America’ gets a bus lane


This month on Building Better Communities with Transit we are joined by Sean Northup, Deputy Director of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization. Sean chats about the Indianapolis Red Line, the first of three BRT routes that will crisscross the region. Those lines and other transit improvements are being funded in part by local, dedicated funding which was won after a long and arduous process, as Sean explains.

Technical assistance Transportation

How Washington State will be picking the right transportation investments for economic vitality

photos from a workshop on economic vitality
Washington is taking groundbreaking steps few other states have taken to match its transportation investments with statewide policy goals. We helped the state work with stakeholders to answer three key questions: what does economic vitality look like for the state, how does transportation impact the economy, and how do we measure that to guide decisions?

Transportation Uncategorized

Washington State Department of Transportation to be the first statewide agency to host an artist-in-residence


Washington will become the first state to embed an artist in a statewide agency, bringing a creative approach to advancing the agency’s goals like improving safety, reducing congestion, promoting economic vitality, supporting multimodal transportation systems, and creating healthier communities.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

El Paso is rolling again with its 1970s streetcars

a picture of the restored art deco El Paso streetcars
An art project about the historic streetcar in the border communities of El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, sparked public interest and then took on a life of its own. This month, the streetcars that once rolled through both border communities are back on the streets of El Paso, a demonstration of the power of art to capture the imagination of a community and create a better future.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

How cities can reduce traffic instead of just ensuring more of it


A new approach to addressing the potential transportation impacts of new development in urban areas, outlined in a new report by our State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI), could be a powerful recipe for reducing the demand for driving, while helping create more prosperous transit- and pedestrian-friendly cities.

Economic development Transportation

Modernizing Mitigation: A Demand-Centered Approach

For decades, most local, regional, and state governments have had a myopic approach to handling the transportation needs related to infill development: they require developers to add more street/road capacity. And this single-minded approach has produced lots of new, expensive roads that increase driving, pollution, roadway deaths, and impediments for people trying to get around without cars. A more productive approach seeks to minimize traffic from development before resorting to just building expensive, bigger and wider roads.

Transportation