Tuesday’s Headlines
Looks the ol’ swamp still needs some draining: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao intervened on behalf of allies of her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to get grants approved in their home state of Kentucky. (Politico) Cities with the highest rents also tend to be the cities with the worst traffic problems. The most egalitarian … Continued
By
Blake Aued
4:15 PM EDT on June 11, 2019
- Looks the ol’ swamp still needs some draining: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao intervened on behalf of allies of her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to get grants approved in their home state of Kentucky. (Politico)
- Cities with the highest rents also tend to be the cities with the worst traffic problems. The most egalitarian solution — congestion pricing sends the message that city centers aren’t for the poor — is to build more housing near transit and jobs, writes a Bloomberg columnist.
- Lyft-Owned Motivate is suing San Francisco over whether the city can let in bike-share competitors. But the dispute is bigger than that, according to Wired — it’s another front in the Uber vs. Lyft war, and whether private monopolies can limit access to what should be a public good. Meanwhile, a retired professor is suing Uber and Lyft, claiming they’re infringing on his patent for GPS and cellphone billing technology (Daily Report).
- The Federal Rail Administration announced a $33 million grant to help restore Amtrak service along the Gulf Coast. (Fox 10)
- Honolulu leaders hand-delivered a revised light-rail plan to the Federal Transit Administration in hopes that the personal touch would lead the FTA to finally release $744 million in federal funds. (Civil Beat)
- The Colorado DOT is considering widening or double-decking I-25 through Denver, but seems to be leaning toward transit and incentives like congestion pricing instead (Denverite). But as Streetsblog Denver points out, the agency’s already eliminated the most progressive option: tearing down the freeway and replacing it with an urban boulevard.
- Cincinnati city council members want to raise parking fines and use digital ad revenue to plug a $1.2 million hole in the streetcar’s projected operating budget. (WCPO)
- A new stretch of Atlanta’s PATH400 trail linking the Lindbergh and Buckhead neighborhoods opens this fall (AJC). Curbed also has a photo essay on the underutilized trail system.
- The arrival of e-bikes in Portland is being pushed back to 2020. (Willamette Week)
- Why are D.C. Metro subways so windy? (City Lab)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
Study: Trump’s Transit Proposal Would Cost the Country So Many Jobs — And Not Just in Cities
... but an increase in funding would be a job-creating juggernaut.
May 13, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Are Bought and Paid For
The Union of Concerned Scientists explains how the highway lobby keeps so many of us in our cars.
May 13, 2026
Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink Our Congestion Obsession
Policymakers constantly suggest that we need to spend billions of dollars and bulldoze countless acres of land to fix traffic jams. But do we?
May 13, 2026
Speed Ills! Reckless Driving on the Rise in Car Ads, Study Shows
Car commercials featuring unsafe driving are rising — as are crash fatalities linked to speeding. Hmm.
May 12, 2026
Not For Granite: New Hampshire Man Isn’t Laughing At Anti-Cyclist Comments From State Elected Official
A voter sent this letter to state Rep. Thomas Walsh, but he speaks for all of us.
May 12, 2026