5 States Making Planning Headlines & Other News

• The head of the group charged with improving and coordinating Southeast Michigan’s public transportation systems said Tuesday that a draft plan in the works for years will be released in May, with a millage proposal to follow in July.

• Want to know where your commute is most dangerous?  Newly-plotted data can show you just that.

• The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) board today approved the Atlanta Region’s Plan, a long-range blueprint that details the investments and programs needed to ensure metro Atlanta’s future success and improve the region’s quality of life.

• As more and more cities adopt Vision Zero initiatives, that means more and more researchers and civil servants must take to the streets, clipboards and clickers in hand, to study street designs, count pedestrians and otherwise analyze the built environment in which people walk.

• When urban planner Jeff Speck visited Houston City Hall Wednesday, he was the first to admit just how intimidating his audience was.

• At DOT, we all know that keeping America’s freight moving is a key to economic growth, and we work hard to find ways to keep it moving as our transportation system faces the challenges of the future.

• You may have heard the phrase “the last mile.”  It is, poetically speaking, the final distance between whatever it is you’ve ordered online — groceries, clothes Chinese takeout — and your front door.

• This report outlines 12 transportation policy solutions either passed legislatively or instituted through administrative action in states.

The Scenic Route

• This guide to introduce creative placemaking to transportation planners, public works agencies and local elected officials who are on the front lines of advancing transportation projects.