Planetizen

1 week ago | planetizen.com | Diana Ionescu

A proposed automated cargo corridor linking Texas and Mexico got a boost last week after the Trump administration approved a new bridge from Laredo, Texas to Nuevo Leon, Mexico. As Noi Mahoney explains in Freight Waves, the project is being spearheaded by a private company and would use driverless, diesel-powered shuttles on a system akin to a conveyor belt on a track to transport cargo across the new bridge.

1 week ago | planetizen.com | Diana Ionescu

Months after Austin legalized single-staircase buildings up to five stories tall, the city’s first three-story, single-stair building acquired its permits. According to an announcement by McKinney York Architects, who designed the project, in Building Design + Construction, “The simple concept of this six-unit apartment complex celebrates an open central stair that forms an inviting entry and divides the building into two discrete volumes.

1 week ago | planetizen.com | Diana Ionescu

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is launching a NextGen Bus Network, a major redesign of its bus service that, according to the agency, will “nearly triple the number of people with access to frequent bus service and offer consistent bus service seven days a week.”The redesign is set to launch in late 2025 and will retool over 100 bus routes.

1 week ago | planetizen.com | Diana Ionescu

Some of Canada’s biggest cities are seeing a sharp drop in condo sales due to high interest rates and the chilling effect of tariff uncertainty, reports Gigi Suhanic in Financial Post. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), an industry group, condo sales in Toronto were down 75 percent, while sales in Vancouver were down 37 percent.

1 week ago | planetizen.com | Diana Ionescu

Richmond, Virginia saw a drop of 29 percent in vehicle-related deaths between 2023 and 2024, signaling that the city’s Vision Zero efforts, now in their seventh year, are working. Deaths dropped from 24 to 17, while the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashed dropped by half. “As part of the initiative, Richmond has installed more speed cameras throughout the city in an effort to enhance school safety,” explains Drew Covington in an article for WRIC.