As cities like Rotterdam, Paris, and San Francisco have shown us, car-free streets will soon be the norm as cities reorient themselves around people. (City Lab)
Leaders at Amtrak and transit agencies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and elsewhere shared their hopes and challenges for 2020 with Progressive Railroading. They believe infrastructure will be a top priority in the coming year, but some are dealing with workforce shortages.
The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, which hasn’t laid a foot of new rail in a generation, is finalizing a $27-billion plan to get people out of their cars with new light and heavy rail and bus rapid transit. The plan will put 420,000 additional jobs and 394,000 more low-income, minority or carless households within reach of transit. (AJC)
Electric car owners don’t pay gas taxes, but then again, there’s relatively few of them on the road right now. So roads are crumbling not because e-vehicle drivers avoid gas taxes, but because of many other factors. Here’s a primer on what we can do. (Cal Matters)
Virginia’s transportation secretary sees a gas tax hike as a “bridge” to other sources of funding, such as tolls, that can restore funding for local roads, as well as pay for Amtrak improvements. (WTOP)
The North Carolina DOT finally finished a “sidewalk to nowhere” over a freeway dividing a Raleigh neighborhood. (CBS 17)
San Francisco is fast-tracking several bike lane projects. (NBC Bay Area)
A dedicated bus lane will connect downtown Tampa and the University of South Florida. (Tampa Bay Times)
We think you meant to say, “It’s time to study distracted DRIVING,” MinnPost.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame, which recently enshrined the Chevrolet Suburban, is nothing but a piece of crass commercial payola. Imagine that. (NBC News)
And, finally, we can’t stop thinking about this brave Chinese kid in this must-watch video. (Streetsblog)