Existing technologies for transportation planning, urban design, and decision-making have not kept pace with rapid urbanization. Visualization and analysis tools can help by combining qualitative, quantitative, and historical urban data – helping experts understand the system of systems of the modern city. Incorporating insights from experts in several relevant fields, we have derived a performance specification for visualization tools supporting general transportation planning problems . We examine two existing technologies against the specification – Betaville and StoryFacets – and recommend adapting them as first-generation urban system analysis/planning support tools. We also suggest guidelines for the next generation of tools for transportation planning.