Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Transit infrastructure

EnergyTransit infrastructure

Is Bus Electrification Economical or Environmental? Possibly Both.

City buses have historically been powered by dirty diesel engines. Upgrading to CNG improves emissions and reduces smog, but doesn’t improve efficiency. Electrification, on the other hand, could drastically improve efficiency, drastically reduce emissions, and reduce operating costs to boot. There is a higher capital cost up front, which can potentially be amortized over a longer lifespan.

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AutomotiveMobilityTransit infrastructureUrban Planning

Sidebar: Can A Wireless Charging Roadway Work?

This piece looks at the question of whether an EV-charging roadway could actually work.

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Culture & LanguageGermanyTransit infrastructureUrban Planning

Germans Have At Least 7 Words For Train Stations. Because Of Course They Do.

Fahrkarte, bitte! We’re going on a lingusitic-infrastructural journey to learn about how infrastructure thinking is baked into the very language we use to describe it.

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Transit infrastructureUrban Planning

Into Exurban Oblivion: Auburn Hills Mulls Ditching Transit Service

In one of the farthest-north suburbs of Detroit, a municipality’s elected representatives are discussing the possibility of eliminating fixed-route transit, which has the support of an overwhelming percentage of the electorate, to save around $800,000 per year. In this guest co-editorial, Calley Wang and Nat Zorach argue that this is a really, really terrible idea.

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GovernmentMichiganMobilityPublic transitTransit infrastructure

MDOT: Rebrand And Replace. Some Ideas From The MAP Conference.

Nat is attending the Michigan Association of Planning’s annual conference. It’s going great– especially with regard to figuring out new ways to refashion state agencies that aren’t doing their jobs.

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BurgerbanismTransit infrastructure

Burgerbanism No. 3: Take Indy’s BRT to Delectable Southern Cuisine at Root & Bone

In town for a long weekend that involved a multi-part wedding extravaganza, I headed down south, as it were, to

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GovernmentMobilityPolicySustainabilityTransit infrastructure

MDOT: “Making VMT Reduction A Mobility Goal Is Punitive, Combative, And Might Hurt People’s Feelings”

Representatives of Michigan’s Department of Transportation have, at two recent public meetings, firmly pushed back on the proposal that the agency must tie a reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to funding considerations for new projects– using a dubious rationale.

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EcologyStreetscapingTransit infrastructure

Greener Streets, Safer Streets: Less Flooding Through Better Transportation Infrastructure

In the aftermath of a catastrophic flooding event a few weeks ago, Detroiters cleaned out their basements of water-damaged and

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