Missing the commute: If you’re working from home and missing your commute, you’re probably not alone ($).
Doubling down: Germany is planning to align railway schedules across the country for faster journey times and new high-speed rail lines.
Clean water: With rollbacks of the Clean Water Act by the Trump administration, Arizona is considering new water protections at the state level.
Next PULSE: Could Richmond, Virginia get a new north-south bus rapid transit line to compliment the existing east-west one?
Ridership breaks: BART opened a new extension in the South Bay Area last year, but ridership has been disappointing due to the pandemic.
WA’s active plan: Washington has a new statewide Active Transportation Plan that is open for public comment.
Top 4: How could a top four primary in Washington be better than the status quo?
Smart growth: From the perspective of Montréal, Todd Litman highlights how smart growth can be good.
Missed deadline: The United Census Bureau has missed the end-of-year deadline for reporting preliminary numbers on the 2020 Census, which may be a good thing given the fascist president’s attempts to exclude certain groups of people from the count.
Cancelled: Legal disputes have led the last ferry service on the Potomac River to shut down.
Network growth: What will 2021 mean for expansion and improvement of the Seattle bike network?
Pedestrianized: Ocean Drive in Miami Beach could be permanently pedestrianized.
Cost differential: Do American rail projects cost more than those overseas (probably no, sorta)?
Privitization overhyped: A state study does not look very favorably on privatizing the Anacortes, Washington-Sidney, British Columbia ferry route.
Spawning again: For the first time in 80 years, salmon are spawning further up the Columbia River beyond the Grand Coulee Dam.
Riskiest?: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ranked Los Angeles County as the riskiest place to live based upon natural disasters.
Payroll tax drama: Seattle has a new progressive payroll tax, but a few state lawmakers worry that it could that complicate a statewide version in the works. The debate is between carving out Seattle and missing out on revenue or preempting it inflaming Seattle. By the way, the state legislature could pass an income tax…
Renter city: FYI Guy writes that the data indicates that renters now outnumber homeowners in Seattle for the first time in 100 years ($).
Policy matters: A new policy is being developed for Seattle’s transportation planning implementation, but how could that affect the bike plan?
Maryland’s next LRT: A plan for Southern Maryland could bring a new light rail line that would link up to the Beltway and existing DC Metro.
The featured image is “Grand Coulee Dam” by wonder_al is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.