Public buses have a lot of problems: lack of funding, congestion, and overcrowding, to name a few. But there’s one relatively cheap thing that transit agencies can do to both radically improve passenger experience and increase ridership: provide accurate real-time information. As in this article I wrote about how transit agencies can cheaply deliver real-time info, real-time information is important. Access to accurate real-time information turns your local bus – with the exact same schedule, speed, and frequency – into a reliable asset rather than a time-suck. And this common-sense principle is backed up by academia, too. Numerous studies demonstrate the power of real-time information to bo

This will be the first part of a long-term partnership between the two companies. Alphabet’s self-driving arm Waymo is introducing a new vehicle into its fleet of driverless rides, an all-electric car produced by Jaguar Land Rover. Waymo unveiled the new vehicle, called the Jaguar I-Pace, at a press event in New York City on Tuesday and said it expected to begin production on the cars equipped with its technology in 2020. In the first two years, the companies expect to manufacture 20,000 cars. The vehicles will first be available in a ride-hail service in Phoenix, Ariz., where the company will begin testing prototypes this year. Waymo currently has a fleet of driverless Chrysler Pacifica van

WASHINGTON -- The $10 billion increase in infrastructure spending in the 2018 omnibus spending bill signed into law Friday by President Trump differs from his administration’s vision. Trump said he signed the omnibus “as a matter of national security” while vowing to never sign another, promising to “bring down” the $1.3 trillion in overall funding in the future. “There are a lot of things that I’m unhappy about in this bill,” Trump said without providing details. “There are a lot of things that we shouldn’t have had in this bill but we were in a sense forced if we wanted to build our military we were forced to have.” The president urged both chambers of Congress to give him line-item veto a

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (CBS) — Have you ever imagined living in the office park where you work? It’s becoming a reality in our area. Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association Executive Director Rob Henry says millenials are looking for choice. “I think there are those who want to live in an urban Philadelphia setting,” he said. “There are those who want to live in a sometimes called urban light environment where you have the suburban feel, but you also have the urban feel where you can walk to a restaurant, walk to a shopping destination and you don’t have to get into your car.” Click here to hear the article: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/03/18/office-park-living/

With Donald Trump in the White House and unified Republican control of Congress, it’s an uncertain time for American transit agencies. The president’s budget proposals have called for dramatically slashing federal transit funding, and his DOT has been slow to release transit grants that were supposed to be done deals, threatening projects all over the country. But even in these circumstances, the budget deal released by the House of Representatives not only keeps transit whole, it actually raises funding. With some hard-right House Republicans refusing to support the package, Democrats were able to secure some spending priorities in return for their votes. The Federal Transit Administration

A federal grant program expected to be a critical funding source for Pittsburgh’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, could disappear. Local leaders hoped to fund half of the BRT’s estimated $200 million price tag through the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program, with a Small Starts grant. President Donald Trump’s proposed 2019 budget would phase out this program. Whether or not funding for the program continues is in Congress’ hands. Without federal funding, it will take much longer to build the system, said Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman. “Federal funding could stand to leverage up to $100 million for this project ... it lessens the local funding require

When people are stuck in traffic, they have a lot of time to go over in their minds how they want to complain about being stuck in traffic. And they usually have plenty of source material, noted Motivate’s Jay Walder in his keynote speech at this week’s National Shared Mobility Summit in Chicago. After all, we still have the same streets that were designed for horses and buggies. “As cities are becoming busier and more dense, this is becoming a bigger problem,” Walder said. “In Chicago, they added trains above and in New York, they added trains below. Then we’ve added in sidewalks and bike lanes.” Fellow keynoter Jarrett Walker, a transit planner, also talked about the importance of space. A

New data shows that transportation emissions have replaced power as the top source of CO2 emissions in the USA. With billions of people driving single occupancy vehicles per day, it is no surprise to hear that transportation has become the leading source of greenhouse gasses. The U.S. transportation sector, which includes cars, trucks, planes, trains, and boats now emits 1.9 billion tons of CO2 annually. The electric power sector emits 1.8 billion tons, an article published at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies states.* Public awareness towards these issues has improved greatly over the past few years and we are finally beginning to understand the consequences of our actio

An established German mobility company, FlixBus, plans to expand its low-cost service and test all-electric bus routes, aiming to become a pioneer in a more sustainable form of intercity transit. The company, which already has established routes in major European cities, will begin testing all-electric Flix-E-Bus service on the roughly 90-mile route between Paris and Amiens, France, in April, and then trial a similar service between Hessen and Baden-Württemberg, Germany, later in the summer. In addition, the company plans to launch regular service in the U.S. this spring, with routes across California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The company didn’t have specific city-to-city route information

Bus transit is often treated as an afterthought in American cities. Building out the infrastructure needed to make it reliable—like dedicated bus lanes or better boarding platforms—can require costly and disruptive roadwork. That can make local governments hesitant to take on such projects, even though evidence shows that improving bus networks is key to increasing ridership. (Just look at Seattle.) But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some cities are now showing the rest of the U.S. that building better bus stops doesn’t have to be a daunting endeavor. That it can be, quite literally, a snap. New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Oakland are now experimenting with quick-build platforms made

Atlanta BRT Gets Key Funding Piece The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has received a $12.6 million grant from the Federal government to get the ball rolling on a new bus rapid transit line that will improve transit service to an underserved part of the South’s largest metropolis. The 9.4-mile Summerhill BRT line would connect the southeast Atlanta neighborhood just east of the former Turner Field with MARTA’s Arts Center station in the city’s Midtown section. Direct access to MARTA had been an issue when the Atlanta Braves were negotiating with the city on remaining in Turner Field; the team ultimately moved to a new ballpar

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (CBS) — How to improve transportation and how to pay for it was the focus at a legislative breakfast Monday morning in Montgomery County. State Rep. Madeleine Dean says Pennsylvania lawmakers, five years ago, were able to work together to come up with sustainable funding for transportation, unlike what she calls a missed opportunity at the federal level. Click here to hear the full recording: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/03/12/legislators-discuss-how-to-improve-fund-southeastern-pa-transportation-issues/

In advance of APTA’s 2018 Legislative Conference, March 18-20, Passenger Transport asked Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to share his thoughts on the likelihood of an infrastructure bill to fund public transportation programs. Q: Chairman Shuster, we know you are an advocate for restoring the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and that you would like to see an infrastructure bill passed soon—one that provides multi-year funding stability and builds on existing FAST Act programs. What do you feel are the prospects for such a bill? A: This is a golden opportunity to improve our nation’s infrastructure. The Transportation and Infra

The Tokyo metropolitan area currently sees “about 13 million people commute daily,” Tokyo Olympics spokesperson Masa Takaya wrote in response to an emailed question concerning how people will get around the city during the 2020 Summer Games. With 8 million visitors expected for the event, decreasing vehicle traffic by 15 percent over the next 30 months is seen as essential for preventing the Olympics from overwhelming the activities of daily life. Faced with a problem akin to superimposing a new city upon the existing one, Tokyo officials are looking at expanding telecommuting and introducing staggered work schedules. They have also bolstered transportation demand management initiatives. TDM

After decades of lackluster investment, misinvestment and disinvestment, how does America reinvigorate its infrastructure spending to get the most impact from every dollar? The Trump administration's own infrastructure plan might hold a key. As the White House put it in a fact sheet previewing the proposal, the administration wants to "encourage the development of new, transformative infrastructure projects." Key words: "new," "transformative." The president's plan has come in for plenty of criticism, particularly from those looking for Washington to lead the way on spending. And certainly there is a need for more investment in our roads, bridges and other vital public works. But the White H

All across the world, when governments fail to provide public goods, the private sector tries to take on the mantle and make it profitable. Microtransit is one of the latest innovations to try this. With the goal of solving public transportation’s deficiencies, users crowdsource minibus and van rides by requesting rides on their phone, much like uberPool or Lyft Line. The app then uses its algorithm to find the best route to serve the most amount of people. Although the technology is new, private minibuses filling the transportation void isn’t. Cities across the developing world rely on informal transportation networks – think jitneys or any modes that operate outside the “official” network

French automobile company Renault just unveiled the EZ-GO, a driverless concept electric vehicle that accommodates up to six passengers in what is essentially a glazed, see-through car accessed by an app or at dedicated stations. Showcased at the Geneva Motor Show, EZ-GO was conceived as a ride-share or for individual use and is a Level 4 autonomous vehicle with a top speed of 30 miles per hour that can navigate traffic, change lanes, and make turns at intersections. It can also move into a safe position if the system detects any issues. As for its design, the vehicle features a futuristic cocoon silhouette with large windows on the sides, front, back, and on the roof (reminiscent of an obse

Kicking off today in Portland, Ore., is the first-ever National Urbanism Next Conference 2018. Mobility Lab, a media sponsor for the conference, interviewed Nico Larco, who is co-director of the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities Initiative, which created the event. Mobility Lab: What was the niche that you all discovered in which you found there to be a need for this conference? Nico Larco: About two year ago, a number of us here at the University of Oregon got interested in what we call the secondary impacts of autonomous vehicles, e-commerce, and the sharing economy on cities – an area we call “Urbanism Next.” What we found is that while there were numerous conferences and much res

Another study has confirmed that U.S. streets are not getting safer for pedestrians. A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) estimates that the number of walkers killed on roadways hit a 33-year high in 2017, even as all other kinds of traffic deaths decreased. “Despite the apparent leveling off of pedestrian fatalities, 2017 is still on par to become the second consecutive year with nearly 6,000 pedestrian deaths,” according to Richard Retting of Sam Schwartz Consulting, who authored the report. “The last time the U.S. saw more than 6,000 pedestrian deaths was 1990.” The report uses state data to provide preliminary pedestrian fatality numbers before the official c

This Is What Transit Designed by Architects Looks Like It’s not often that a new transit facility gets a mention in the architectural media. But then again, it’s not that often that the builder of a new transit facility gets a chance to hire an architect that will produce a dramatic design for it. That just happened in Gothenburg, Sweden, where city officials held an architectural competition for a new aerial cable car route. Dezeen magazine reports that the Dutch firm UNStudio won the prize, for which three other noted firms — BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), Wilkinson Eyre and White Arkitekter — also competed. The aerial gondola line will be suspended from six towers whose lattice-like design re