Transportation

At TransportationCamp DC, Jarrett Walker calls for "freedom" in transit planning and storytelling

Jarrett Walker’s firm is based in Portland, Oregon and focuses on bus‑network design, but he suggested at TransportationCamp DC on Saturday that the…

Jan 12 • Paul Mackie

Taking the Big Bus is a quality way to acclimate to Chicago

Plans for my family winter holiday made a shift from skiing and visiting friends along the way to Montreal to spending time with family in Illinois…

Dec 31, 2025 • Paul Mackie

Cities and their transportation systems are only as smart as the stories we tell about them

I couldn’t make it to this week’s 82 Alliance Conference in Nashville, but one session’s title grabbed me: “Are we too dumb for Smart Cities?

Nov 13, 2025 • Paul Mackie

Can pet sketches help communicate the importance of government work and bridge America’s political divide?

Earlier this month, I wrote about a friend’s creative outlet called the RocketBear Project, in which Denise Mortimer sketches the pets of federal…

Oct 28, 2025 • Paul Mackie

Children need better education and infrastructure to stay safe on their routes to school

Every year as Halloween approaches, transportation agencies ramp up campaigns reminding families to stay alert while trick-or-treating.

Oct 23, 2025 • Paul Mackie

As federal funding for science gets cut, my dog Rico has a few things to say about it

A friend of mine has launched an awesome creative storytelling project on Instagram: RocketBear Project. She’s illustrating portraits of…

Oct 6, 2025 • Paul Mackie

Robert A. Heinlein envisioned urban sprawl through high-speed walkways as dangerous as highways

Feb 24, 2025 • Paul Mackie

RIP Donald Shoup aka "the Charles Darwin of parking"

Donald Shoup had a brain tumor in 1995 and something perhaps unusual happened after that.

Feb 12, 2025 • Paul Mackie

Great Magazine Reads: Robocars continue towards a path of safer U.S. roads

It’s been a few years now since I was regularly quoted in the media and spoke a lot about autonomous vehicles.

Feb 9, 2025 • Paul Mackie

RIP Fernadomania Valenzuela + a radar-detector legend

Fernando Valenzuela had a storied career against my St.

Oct 23, 2024 • Paul Mackie

Great Magazine Reads: Flying cars are the hottest trend in future transportation, just like they were on The Jetsons

Always thinking back to The Jetsons, we keep asking whatever happened to the flying cars we were promised.

Apr 23, 2024 • Paul Mackie

Road ecology is a relatively new science, but it could shape wildlife and highways

Cliff swallows are a bird species that live all over the United States, but nearly all of them live on bridges.

Apr 14, 2024 • Paul Mackie

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