The importance of transportation resilience in cities

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) initial National Transportation Noise Map shows that more than 97 percent of the U.S. population has the potential to be exposed to noise from aviation and Interstate highways at levels below 50 decibels or roughly comparable to the noise level of a humming refrigerator.

Municipal bicycle sharing programs are taking off around the world. But there are a number of cities hitting the brakes on programs even while other unexpected cities start their own initiatives. Metrics can measure whether a bikeshare successfully helped cover that unique last mile between a transportation hub and a final destination like home or work.

Cities worldwide are implementing modern transit systems to improve mobility in the increasingly congested metropolitan areas. Despite much research on the effects of such systems, a comparison of effects across transit modes and countries has not been studied comprehensively.

Urban transport, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability continue to present big challenges for city leaders and policy think tanks. As the share of the world's population living in cities grows to nearly 70 per cent between now and 2050, urban transport energy consumption is forecast to double to meet the...