Streetsblog USA

On Tuesday, the news came that after 41 years of teaching at UCLA, Donald Shoup, distinguished professor of urban planning, will retire. For all of us who have had our paths in life profoundly influenced by his research, writing, and teaching on parking and transportation, it's a good time to reflect. I never got to take a class from professor Shoup, but he has had more influence on my life and career than any of the professors whose classes I did attend.

It's almost a shame that these two titans are meeting in the second round of the Parking Madness tournament, because both Tampa and Fort Worth look like they have champion potential.

What if you could dramatically increase the usefulness of a bike-share system without adding any bicycles or docks? Researchers at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business have come up with a model that they say could help even the most successful bike-share systems in the world get more bang for the buck.

Today it's on to round two in Parking Madness, our hunt for the worst parking crater in an American town. Our first Elite Eight matchup features two cities struggling to rebuild in the wake of some serious urban disinvestment, and these parking craters certainly aren't helping. It's Camden vs. Detroit.

Redesigning streets to make room for people is a no brainer. "Complete streets" projects that calm traffic and provide safe space for walking and biking save money, reduce crashes and injuries, and improve economic outcomes. Need further convincing?

This week and next I’m joined by Christof Spieler, a vice president of Morris Architects who serves on the board of Houston Metro, to talk about Houston. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the podcasts.

The motorist who drove through a Minneapolis street protest last November, injuring a teenage girl, was charged with misdemeanor traffic offenses.

A new study confirms what we already know too well: Sprawl is expensive. The New Climate Economy's latest report [PDF] attempts to put a figure on it and it's pretty staggering: more than $1 trillion a year nationwide.

There's just one spot remaining in the Elite Eight of this year's Parking Madness bracket. And it's either going to Fort Worth or Boise. Without further ado, here are the final parking craters in the 2015 tournament.