Mexico City

It's way past time for the urban planning world to stop overlooking the many successes of Latin American cities like Mexico City to find innovative ways to improve walking, biking, and transit.

Researchers have found that making driving more convenient ends up ensuring that a community will be choked by gridlock, and everyone will have a slower trip.

Latin American cities can provide insights on how to build bike culture. Mobility experts from Mexico City and Bogotá shared how their cities are creating a bike culture.

The largest city in North America has done away with one of the biggest hidden subsidies for driving: minimum parking requirements. The new regulations will make housing more affordable, transit more convenient, and streets less congested.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Mancera is pursuing a sweeping overhaul of the city's parking policy that's expected to do away with minimum parking requirements and generate revenue for transit and affordable housing. If enacted, the reforms could set an important precedent for cities in North and South America.

Back in April, Marcelo Ebrad, the mayor of Mexico City, announced he wanted those who worked in his administration to ride bicycles to work one day a month (at right, Ebrard, center, kicks off the program). Many were shocked at the idea, or simply laughed it off. But this excellent article in the San Diego Union details how the mayor's decree to his employees has meshed with several other initiatives to raise the profile of bicycling as a legitimate form of transportation in the traffic-clogged city:

Finally, we get to see just how much former executive director Jon Orcutt was tamping down the high-powered talent at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The latest issue of Mobilizing the Region is jam-packed with good articles. Here are some highlights (and, yes, I'm kidding about Orcutt but serious about this week's MTR being really good):