Founded in 1882, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) works to "serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services." Their members include public bus, rapid transit, and commuter rail systems, along with various private organizations that provide support services for these systems. First-time visitors to the site may wish to look over some of...

The Brookings Institution works on a range of issues through their Metropolitan Policy Program, which has always been interested in transportation. In November 2012, program fellow Martha Ross finished this trenchant look at improving transportation connections within the D.C. region. The 41-page paper contains a number of interesting findings, including the observation that almost 90 percent of...

The Advanced Transport Group at the University of Bristol, upon considering current traffic congestion problems in England and throughout the world, attempted to "identify the ideal system for future urban transport." The group's work has led to the development of the Urban Light Transport (ULTra) System. This paper, published in September 2002, describes the engineering challenges and...

Are you curious to learn more about cities? You'd do well to make a beeline for the Places Wire site, which offers a cornucopia of material on urban parks, public policy, architecture, planning, and other topics. In sum total, the site is a "curated feed of news and commentary on architecture, landscape and urbanism." The site has partnered with 20 different organizations to provide new content on...

The New York Subway http://www.nycsubway.org//index.html Channel Tunnel Rail Link http://www.ctrl.co.uk/default.asp The Subway Page http://www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html Civil Engineering: The Big Dig http://www.icivilengineer.com/Big_Project_Watch/Big_Dig/ Lost Subways http://perso.club-internet.fr/fdelaitre/Ths.htm Federal Transit Administration: Rail Technology and Systems...

Originally developed at the University of Minnesota, personal rapid transit (PRT) systems are now being explored further by a spin-off company called Taxi2000. The system is designed to operate on raised guideways and is set up in grid formations that can easily be expanded. While still in the planning stages, a great deal of information is presented on the Taxi2000 homepage. Many publications can...

What will the future of cities be like? It's a riveting question and one that excites the passions of the folks at The Atlantic Cities website. Their work here "explores the most innovative ideas and pressing issues facing today's global cities and neighborhoods." Visitors should browse through their newest articles, which might include "Why Our Kids Need Play" and "How Poverty Taxes the Brain."...

The Guardian newspaper has crafted this wonderful site to bring curious urbanologists news from Seoul to San Francisco. Supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation, the site offers "a forum for debate and the sharing of ideas about the future of cities around the world.” Articles on the homepage might include pieces on investment in Detroit by Chinese corporations or the shifting public art...

How are cities transformed by the creation of new transit lines? How can existing transit lines be modified to create new land use opportunities for housing and commercial properties? These subjects are covered by a 172-page conference edition of a forthcoming paper from the World Bank. The paper was authored by Hiroaki Suzuki, Robert Cervero, and Kanako Iuchi. Visitors will note that the work...