Tag Archives: light rail

From sea to shining sea of wasteful surface parking lots

The images below depict the extent of wasteful surface parking lots that can be found across the United States at many major sports venues, especially those dedicated to football, baseball, and soccer. Much of the land currently set aside for … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, Cars, cities, downtown, economic development, engineering, geography, history, Housing, infrastructure, land use, Maps, parking, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, Portugal, product design, rail, Railroads, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, technology, third places, tourism, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, UK, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ten planning lessons from mighty Los Angeles

Despite its detractors, every time I’m in Los Angeles, the city impresses me more. From the first time in 1970 to just recently, the changes are palpable, especially the move(s) away from being so car-centric and increased densification. Below, is … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, branding, business, cities, civics, commerce, culture, density, distribution, downtown, economic development, Economy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fun, geography, Highway displacement, highways, historic preservation, history, humanity, immigration, industry, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Maps, mountains, movies, music, nature, Passenger rail, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, rail, Railroads, recreation, skylines, skyscrapers, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, Television, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transit, transportation, Travel, trucking, urban design, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Catchy, clever, and weird transit names and acronyms

Below are some weird, wacky, clever, and catchy names for transit systems. While more examples from other nations would be nice, it’s difficult to decipher so many languages. Any additions, corrections, or suggestions, especially from overseas, to this list are … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, airport planning, airports, branding, Bus transportation, cities, fun, infrastructure, planning, rail, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Applying smart commute to travel

We were very pleased and proud to utilize forms of smart commuting for our entire trip to/in/from Ireland last week. The following is a breakdown of our smart commute trips during our eight days of travel: Commuter rail – 4 … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, air travel, aviation, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, civility, climate change, culture, energy, environment, Europe, fitness, fun, geography, health, hiking, infrastructure, Ireland, land use, new urbanism, product design, rail, Renewable Energy, spatial design, sustainability, technology, tourism, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ecomodal transportation hubs

This post summarizes several ideas that could be employed to facilitate the establishment of sustainable transportation hubs where intermodal cross-movement between multiple green (or active) transportation options takes place with ease. In a nutshell, these facilities are described by using … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, Bus transportation, Cars, cities, civics, civility, climate change, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, Communications, culture, density, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, EVs and hybrids, geography, Green roofs, health, historic preservation, humanity, infrastructure, internet, land use, landscape architecture, logistics, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, placemaking, planning, pollution, product design, rail, recycling, Renewable Energy, revitalization, seasons, Social media, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, technology, third places, tourism, transit, transportation, Travel, urban planning, walking, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Where mass transit matters (pt 4) – light rail (LRT)

Until the recent emphasis on bus rapid transit, (BRT), light rail transit (LRT) has been the modern symbol of modern mass transit in the United States. When I refer to light rail I am including  trams, modern street cars, trolleys that generally follow or … Continue reading

Posted in cities, climate change, density, economic development, energy, history, land use, new urbanism, placemaking, planning, rail, transit, transportation, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

“Cool” transit for the masses

The following link to a story on npr.org describes the on-going development of light rail systems around the country, including in many cities that were once auto dominated. Light rail systems and modern street cars are helping reshape city development … Continue reading

Posted in Cities, land use | Tagged , , | Leave a comment