October 2: Bass proposes revenues for traffic calming | CyclePhilly app wins national award | Spurning mid-rise for mansions

Councilwoman Cindy Bass introduced a bill establishing a new $5 vehicle registration fee that Act 89 gives counties the option to levy, reports Greta Iverson. The proceeds, which are required to be earmarked for transportation projects, would be used for street safety and traffic calming measures.

Jake Blumgart nationalizes the Open Streets story at Slate, and Angie Schmitt at Streetsblog points out that Philly would have the largest open streets area in the country if Mayor Nutter gets his way.

PennDOT will begin accepting unsolicitied proposals for public-private partnership arrangements for transportation projects through October 31st.

New EPA rules will require existing refineries to control their emissions.

Developers are building three more mansions with parking garages by-right in a CMX-3 mixed-use zone, reports OCF Realty. Nathaniel Popkin pointed out another case of this happening on Arch Street.

Over at The Spirit, Conrad Benner wonders if the emerging product manufacturing and service economies in Fishtown is really gentrification, or a return to the neighborhood’s foundations.

The CyclePhilly app won a Code for America Technology Award. We’ve been paying attention to the data gleaned from that app, because of the insights about where cyclists who use the app prefer to ride.

And it’s not planning-related, but Daniel Denvir’s impassioned reflection on his time at City Paper and the “Alt-Weekly death spiral” is worthy of your time a consumer of public interest journalism.