Past Articles

Widespread work-from-home practices have upended many efforts to make transportation more efficient, raising new environmental and economic concerns. Non-profit commuter services organizations that promote carpooling,  transit and other alternatives to driving solo to work are trying to adapt to the new reality of intermittent commuting and changing travel patterns. Meanwhile, the push-pull between workers and their employers over remote work policies continues.

Hydrogen powered long-haul trucking has great potential for reducing carbon emissions from transportation while laying the ground for wider use of hydrogen throughout the economy.

Brightline's Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas route aims to capture up to 11 million of the travelers who would otherwise have made trips between the Los Angeles metro area and southern Nevada by car or commercial airlines -- and serve as a model for future high-speed rail lines.

Bus shelters in Portland, Maine are getting attention for more than just providing space protected from the elements where people can wait.

Traditional commutes have not returned as people continue work from home in some capacity, impacting transit ridership and budgets, with few answers on the horizon.

Electric vehicles make up less than 5 percent of the market but sales doubled in 2021 in what could be the dawn of a new era. Now it could be a matter of infrastructure keeping up.

Whether it's in a big city or small, even in an Indian reservation, on-demand apps can supplement and connect transit—in one case even replacing it.

Local governments are leading planning efforts to ensure their transportation systems are both ready for flooding and other impacts of climate change and not contributing it. In New Jersey, examples include governments in the Passaic River Basis, those along the New Jersey shore and the City of Hoboken.

Related: Funding Resiliency in Michigan by Jessica Zimmer
Related: Flood Walls in Alton, Illinois by Jessica Zimmer

Shopping malls had been suffering for a decade or more due to a “retail apocalypse” brought on by the rise of online shopping. Now the pandemic may push many over the financial edge. The trend to reinvent malls with housing, offices and other uses will accelerate.

The auto industry and governments have increased their commitments to electrifying the transportation sector. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the commitments will endure. Can consumers be persuaded?

Related: Electrifying Other Vehicles
Related: Carbon Concerns

There are the investors, who want to see as many units squeezed into a property as possible. There are the towns, which demand projects abide by intricate sets of local zoning regulations. And there are the residents, who sometimes cast a skeptical eye toward what an application will mean to their schools and traffic. Guiding a transit-oriented development (TOD) through to fruition can be an exercise in navigating competing interests. For architects, finding ways to artfully compromise can mean compromising art.