Planning Pool

…the second video is plucked from BestOfYoutube, and while it might be a long way from ever being realized, the idea of a train that never has to make intermediate station stops is pretty intriguing. Of course, it’s not hard to imagine many of the potential dangers, but the concept seems a logical solution to one of the biggest challenges in streamlining commuter rail – minimizing station time. Anyway, take a peek and share your thoughts…
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This post was originally published on Itsgettinghotinhere.org on May 14, 2010. Its message of urgency regarding rebuilding America’s rail transportation seems even more relevant today given the worsening environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. What is the price of not acting to reduce America’s dependence on oil?

The Lower Parel train station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway in a rare quiet moment. Thanks to Rohan Shah on Flickr for licensing this great photograph with Creative Commons.

I am obsessed with trains.  There, I’ve said it. I would even go so far as to argue that I love trains more than Joe Biden does. When I was young, my father used to take me to the train station to watch trains. This is … Continue Reading

Daniel Fontaine is a co-editor of CityCaucus.com and an active political commentator with a background in political science, writing and strategy. CityCaucus occasionally teams up with PlanningPool.com to cross-post articles of common interest… like this one, originally published here.

Should taxis be treated the same way as other public transit vehicles?

Thanks to Travis Nep Smith on Flickr for this great Creative Commons photo of a taxi in rainy Vancouver.

For many of us who live in major urban centres and choose not to own a vehicle (or can’t afford one), taxis are an essential form of public transit that helps us to manage our daily affairs. In my own case, our family decided years ago that we’d sell our second car and … Continue Reading

Hearing Dan Burden speak to a Vancouver crowd was like Mariah Carey’s third wedding to the same guy: superfluous, self-congratulatory, and all criticism aside, a great way to renew vows.

Thanks to Christopher Lewis Cotrel on Flickr for this heartwarming photo of a Vancouver bicycle wedding!

Vancouver is an incredibly walkable and bikeable place. We get mixed use right, with small scale neighbourhood grocers and a variety of housing types. We care about the human scale, with tree-lined streets, frequent parks and a never-ending supply of the urban necessity of coffee shops. We fight the good fight in reducing travel lanes and handing them over to people, with the Olympics and the Burrard Bridge as examples. Dan reminded us that not only do we … Continue Reading

A heritage streetcar on San Francisco's F-line makes its way to the Castro District. Photo by Rachael Young, used with permission.

Today’s post celebrates a particular planning win, San Francisco’s heritage F-Market and Wharves streetcar line, as well as a broader, equally winning trend of urban streetcar revival.

These days, San Francisco’s six mile F-line line is one of the worlds’ longest publicly-operated vintage streetcar routes, boasting a fleet of restored antique cars from around the world. This fall will mark fifteen years since the local public transit system, the San Francisco Municipal Railway, began running vintage cars in regular service between the Castro and Financial Districts. A decade ago, the route was further extended to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Much-loved by residents and tourists, the F-line serves around 20,000 … Continue Reading

Understanding past-mistakes is essential to avoiding them in the future, however, hindsight is 20/20 and we here at Planning Pool are cognizant of this truth. With that in mind and with eyes toward sunnier days, we’ve decided to respond to last month’s Fail Week feature with some of the more hopeful developments in the world of planning: Win Week…

Getting the price of parking right can be more important than you think, and in Part 2 of this two-part series, we see how San Francisco has been trying to perfect their parking price, and how it can make the city more liveable.

Most people see a low price as an opportunity. But economists see prices as a way of relaying important information about the product. Find out why we may be sending the wrong information with parking rates, and why getting it right could change everything.

Yesterday, the Portland City Council postponed a vote on the city’s aggressive 2030 Bike Plan until next week, when, as Mayor Sam Adams suggested, it will likely pass.  Still, there is some question about the extreme expense of the plan (its total cost exceeds that of the recent light rail expansion), and whether a majority of Portlanders will truly appreciate its benefits.  Zach Dundas at True/Slant offered his thoughts on the plan yesterday.

Here’s a little snippet of yesterday’s happenings from the Oregonian.

City Council Postpones Vote on 2030 Bike Plan

Kudos to the council and Mayor Adams for taking a proactive stance on the city’s transportation future.  Some even suggest that Portland’s policies might make it a leader in Bike-Oriented Development, much the way the … Continue Reading

“Olympic Line” Streetcar Demonstration in Vancouver, Canada from Planning Pool on Vimeo.

January 21 2010 at 9:30am -that’s today! – marks the start of a two-month demonstration of modern streetcar service in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. This three-minute slideshow shows a sneak preview of the streetcars themselves, on loan from Brussels, Belgium. It also observes the City of Vancouver’s interest in finding funding and galvanizing political will to reinstate permanent streetcar service in the city.

The demonstration streetcars will be free to ride, so if you find yourself in Vancouver during the Olympics, it will be worth venturing out into the crowds to check them out. The Olympic Line will run from 6:30 AM to 12:30AM every day, with … Continue Reading