One of the goals we have had with the Transportation Planning Council (TPC) this year was to post interesting articles relating to transportation planning and any good resources we come across. I can tell you that as we all get busy in our daily lives with work and family, we forget some of these goals if we don't schedule time in our outlook calendars, things are less likely to get done...
But, this week the chair of the TPC, Larry Marcus, and I (vice-chair) said we just need to do something! We realized we didn't have to write an article or draft a long intro to the things we found and want to share with our planning members, but that we just need to start sharing! So as we move forward, we hope that you can find one of the great planning articles helpful or interesting with regards to what you do on a daily basis. We have hundreds of great planners out there across the country and we invite you to post things you have read, seen, been involved in to the ITE community as well. We are lucky to be involved in a professional organization that emphasizes and encourages social media and technology as a way to reach out to each other, so I hope you find time and are open to embracing it!
The first article I found interesting is on the 10 Most Innovative Sustainability Solutions from Cities Across the Globe. There are some very interesting ideas and concepts to read about in cities all over the world, including things happening here in the US in San Francisco, Washington DC, and Portland. But the one that relates to transportation and I found to be a very good read was the Citywide Parking Sensors for Lowering Congestion in London.
London, UK: Citywide Parking Sensors for Lowering Congestion
“By installing parking bay sensors across the city, this solution allows motorists to directly access available park- ing spaces – reducing congestion, air pollu- tion, and fuel consumption in the process. This solution delivers real-time information regarding parking space availability to smartphone users in order to improve urban air qual- ity and reduce congestion.”
http://thisbigcity.net/10-of-the-most-innovative-sustainability-solutions-from-cities-across-the-globe/
I hope you enjoy this article. Please embrace the ITE community and help us share resources. If you may have read an article in the recent ITE Journal that I co-authored, I firmly believe our industry is better with sharing of information and collaboration.
Have a wonderful day!
Jennifer Pangborn-Dolde
vice-chair of the TPC
Senior Planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff
pangbornj@pbworld.com