Minneapolis officials want more people riding public transportation, scooters and Nice Ride bicycles to their destinations. Getting more people walking is high on their wish list, too. At the same time, the city wants to reduce its carbon footprint. That’s what has led to new spots called mobility hubs where multiple modes of non-automobile transportation intersect. Each one has a bus stop, a bench and parking for Nice Ride bicycles and scooters that can be checked out by smartphone app. The hubs opened this month at four busy north Minneapolis intersections and are designed to make it more appealing and convenient for people to leave their car at home, said Josh Johnson, the city’s advanced

In the final weeks of 2018, I caught a glimpse of transportation’s future on my way to an appointment. I was walking briskly to catch a bus I knew had 20-minute headways. If I missed it, I’d be late. I fired up a trip-planning app on my phone, which gave me a real-time countdown to when the bus would arrive. I had five minutes to go three blocks. Crap! Now walk-jogging, I toggled over to the ride-hailing option, ready to reluctantly summon a car as a fallback. But then my thumb glanced over a new button that had recently been added to the app’s home screen. Of course! I only had to veer a few steps out of my path to grab an electric scooter (since I already had an account, scanning the QR co

Railroads have always been part of the urban landscape — from the suburban stations where commuters board for their daily ride into town, to the subways under the streets speeding people from one metro hotspot to the next. But urban mobility is changing rapidly with the influx of new travel modes and technologies that could potentially undermine the role of passenger rail and mass transit in cities. Ridesharing is a harbinger of the challenge that lies ahead. Over the next decade, many cities will see the development of autonomous cars, drones, smart parking, and even an entire digitized and connected traffic management system. City planners need to anticipate how these new mobility solution

Since it launched in 2012, Lyft has gone head-to-head with virtually every other form of urban transportation. Along with arch-competitor Uber, the ride-hailing service has nudged travelers out of taxis and rental cars, drawn pedestrians and cyclists into its backseats, and lured commuters off buses and trains. Competition with other modes has aided the immense growth of the ride-hailing market: In 2018, Lyft’s bookings surpassed $8 billion. But according to president and co-founder John Zimmer, there’s only one mobility mode that Lyft truly wishes to defeat: the private automobile. Towards that goal, today the company launches a new version of its app aimed at helping commuters more easily

PAOLI, Pa. (CBS) — Amtrak and SEPTA marked the completion of a two-year construction project at the Paoli Station. A new center platform was unveiled at the Paoli Station Northeast Parking Lot, located at 13 Lancaster Ave., at 10:30 a.m. on Monday. The new $48 million platform is accessible for all users. The upgrades at the station include, a new center high level platform, new elevators and ramps, a pedestrian overpass, and parking lot enhancements. Click Here for the Video

KING OF PRUSSIA — More than 40 organizations from across the Greater Philadelphia region were recognized Monday for being advocates for Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies. The organizations were recognized during GVF’s 10th annual TDM Advocates Breakfast. Through GVF's TDM Advocate's program, organizations are recognized for their commitment to implementing programs that promote commuting alternatives that alleviate congestion for their employees and community. GVF is a non-profit regional transportation association that partners with local private and public sectors to combat these challenges through transportation demand management strategies. Examples of the strategies incl

Dive Brief: ​ As part of its newly announced $51.5 billion 2020-2024 Capital Improvement Plan, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) committed $5.2 billion to making subway stations accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The project involves making 70 stations ADA accessible by placing new elevators and ramps at up to 66 stations and accelerating work at four stations where MTA already committed to accessibility improvements. Once the upgrades are in place, riders will be no more than two stops away from an accessible station. Stations that serve over 60% of the subway system's total ridership will be accessible upon project completion. Di

Dive Brief: Traffic analytics company StreetLight Data is increasing the granularity of the vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian data it offers through its cloud-based software platform, StreetLight InSight. The platform will offer Monthly Annual Daily Traffic (MADT) counts and Annual Average Hourly Traffic (AAHT) counts in addition to the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) metrics it has offered. Hourly data could identify major congestion points during peak travel times. The additional information will allow traffic planners, engineers and other industry participants to better evaluate traffic analytics at different points in time, such as winter vs. summer or rush hour vs. off-peak times. Div

In 100 years, we haven’t been able to solve the safe streets problem. If we’re going to move the needle, the team at the transportation consulting firm Toole Design argues that we need to rethink the strategy behind street safety. Since 1925, the transportation industry has been using a concept called the Three E’s—engineering, education, and enforcement—to guide decisions. Last week, Toole Design released a manifesto called “The New E’s of Transportation,” arguing that, instead, ethics, equity, and empathy should be the driving factors for all transportation decision making. The conventional Three E’s approach, Toole’s manifesto states, “doesn’t provide the guidance or moral compass we need

Pittsburgh is in the midst of an office development boom. The metro has nearly 2.5 million square feet of projects underway, with just shy of 1.3 million square feet anticipated to deliver before year-end, according to Yardi Matrix. Developers’ sights have been largely set on the city’s riverside areas, with 1.6 million square feet of office space under construction within 1,000 feet of the Allegheny or Monongahela rivers. Hazelwood Green is one such project. The development, valued at $1 billion, is still in its early stages, with the first building opening this week—Mill 19, Carnegie Mellon University’s new research and development hub. Set on 178 acres alongside the Monongahela River, 4 m

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to adopt its regional transportation demand management plan on Monday despite concerns that the plan could end up favoring urban projects to the detriment of rural counties. The plan was created to streamline the process for projects that promote mode choices for travelers while managing pollution and traffic congestion. However, in approving the plan, the Transportation Policy Board also passed a provision that would award extra points in the prioritization phase to projects that are not part of the transportation demand management program, but still offer a mixture of infrastructure and design elements that benefit the region’s tran

Ever-growing use of the SEPTA Key is in full swing on Regional Rail trains. But for many riders who get their weekly and monthly passes through employer pre-tax programs or through the school they attend, the Key Card remains something mysterious, always one seat away. All who ride SEPTA trains will eventually become Key holders, according to SEPTA's grand plan. Exactly when that happens, however, remains up in the air. Here is an UPDATED rundown of all the major Key-related developments and crucial upgrades that SEPTA riders need to know about: If I Get My Weekly or Monthly Regional Rail Pass Mailed to Me or Given to Me Through My School, When Will I Be Required to Start Using the Key? The

The 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles may be nearly nine years away, but the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is already immersed in planning for the event’s impact on the region’s mass transportation network. When the Olympic torch is lit in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 21, 2028, Los Angeles will become the first U.S. city to host the Summer Olympics three times; the city previously hosted the games in 1932 and 1984. In 1984, Jim de la Loza had recently completed graduate school and was involved in the city’s early planning to host not only the Olympic games, but also a major arts festival to coincide with the games. Combined, the two event

In the blizzard of recent opinion pieces concerning new introductions of automated driving features in mass market automobiles, a few mis-understandings have started to float around that I will address here, hoping they don't propagate further. Last month Nissan’s ProPilot 2.0 was announced for the Japanese market only. Initially available on the upscale Skyline model, there are ground-breaking features such as automatically negotiating freeway-to-freeway interchanges. Very impressive stuff and I’ve been prodding my Nissan colleagues to accelerate North American introduction! But of course they remind me that adapting a complex system to another region with different traffic dynamics and roa

Dive Brief: Honolulu, New Orleans and Nashville, TN are the top U.S. cities that could benefit the most from micromobility solutions, according to a new report from INRIX. The group analyzed more than 50 million car trips and found that 48% of trips in the most congested U.S. metro areas are under three miles. If a fraction of those trips were replaced by shared bikes and scooters, cities would experience less traffic congestion, reduced emissions and a boost to the local economy, according to the research group. Chicago; Charlotte, NC; New York City; Portland, OR; Pittsburgh; Los Angeles and San Francisco also rank among the top 10 U.S. cities that could benefit the most from micromobility.

The selling point for ride hailing apps is convenience: no cash, maps, or transit schedules required. Mobility-as-a-service providers want to make all transportation options as convenient as calling an Uber. The crucial element in doing that is creating one service that includes all types of transportation: scooters, cabs, metros, water taxis, private cars, even gondolas if you're lucky enough to be in the mountains. Mobility's's State of Mobility 2019 report asked about 21,000 people in the United States and Europe about their current transportation habits. The survey also tested the idea of mobility as a service to change consumer behaviors. The survey examined the transportation patterns,

Mayor Jim Kenney wants Center City delivery drivers to take a load off — without blocking traffic. As of Sept. 1, the city is reserving 80 to 100 feet of prime curbside real estate for delivery trucks and passenger vehicles, such as ride-hailing cars, to load and unload their precious cargo all day with a 20-minute time limit. The new all-day loading zones will be created as a six-month pilot on Chestnut Street between Sixth and 20th streets. The city is partnering on the trial with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), SEPTA, and the Philadelphia Parking Authority. It’s an experiment designed to help Philly solve a growing congestion problem that shows no sign of abating

A new report from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute about commuters’ traffic woes is a doozy. The big takeaway: Drivers are wasting more time than ever “stopping and going in an ocean of brake lights” (to quote one news account). Since the Institute’s first Urban Mobility Report was issued in 1982, the number of hours per commuter lost to traffic delay has nearly tripled, climbing to 54 hours a year. The nationwide cost of gridlock has grown more than tenfold, to $166 billion a year. This series of reports has become sort of infamous in transportation circles: It’s been the target of scathing criticism for focusing solely on driving and traffic to the exclusion of public transit, walkin

The National Parks Service (NPS) recently rolled out a new policy on August 30 that will allow people to ride e-bikes within the parks. E-bikes had been appearing on their trails more and more frequently, so administration crafted a policy to help manage and regulate their use. According to the press release, park visitors will be able to use e-bikes in the same way they use traditional bikes: “on park roads, paved or hardened trails, areas designated for off-road motor vehicle use and administrative roads.” [Find 52 weeks of tips and motivation, with space to fill in your mileage and favorite routes, with the Bicycling Training Journal.] The policy seeks to provide consistency to the e-bike

What would happen if everybody in the United States cut back on driving? We’re not talking about getting rid of your car, just using it a little bit less. It turns out that even driving just 10 percent less — if everyone did it — would have a big impact on greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because Americans drive trillions of miles every year, helping to make transportation the biggest contributor to United States greenhouse gas emissions. In 2017, light-duty vehicles in the United States (including cars, S.U.V.s, pickups and most of the vehicles used for everyday life) produced 1,098 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. That’s about one-fifth of the country’s total emissions fo