From the newly installed "protected" intersections in Austin, Texas and Davis, California to additional proposed bus lanes and bike paths in Los Angeles, car culture is becoming less of a given and more of an expensive, perhaps even less desirable, option. Cities across the U.S. are starting to rethink their approach to large scale transportation infrastructure projects (i.e., freeways) as driving per capita remains stagnant. Of course, this trend is somewhat complicated by the rise of cheap door-to-door transportation options such as Uber, which make it easier for the car-less to get around without having to own a vehicle. For its part, Los Angeles is considering approving an initiative known as Mobility Plan 2035, which would redesign major boulevards and avenues to encourage people to get out of their cars and into the mass-transit dreams of city planners.

Last week, Archinect highlighted Christopher Hawthorne's review of the additional lane on the 405 freeway, a project that began as an effort to ease congestion but ended up largely as an uninspiring (and, to the rush-hour user) slow-moving design. Check out more on the changing reality of transit:

The Numbers Behind America's Mass Transit Resurgence

Christopher Hawthorne on repairing L.A.'s long-broken relationship with its freeways

Are driverless pods the future of public transportation?

LA Mayor talks urbanism and mass transit with architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne