Wednesday Headlines
- Climate change poses “catastrophic” and “likely irreversible” risks to global political stability, according to a new report by a national security think tank. The report calls for phasing out greenhouse gas emissions and reaching zero emissions “as quickly as possible.” (The Hill)
- Cities waste money building new roads when they should be maintaining what they have instead. (Strong Towns)
- The New York city council wants to tear down the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — Robert Moses’s poster child for bad urban planning and transportation policy — and replace it with a tunnel (NY Times). With congestion pricing around the corner, StreetsblogNYC editor Gersh Kuntzman wants to know why elected officials don't just tear it down.
- A proposed Houston-to-Dallas bullet train still has some major hurdles to clear, as rural Texans who don't want anyone taking their land are mobilizing to fight it. (Houston Chronicle)
- As an incentive for people to use transit, Los Angeles is considering letting transit riders skip security lines at LAX. Boston did the same thing last year, and ridership on the Logan express bus doubled. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Spokane is modernizing its parking system with dynamic pricing and increased fines. (Spokesman-Review)
- There's no war on cars and drivers, a former Mile High City sustainability officer writes in the Denver Post, but if there really was such a thing, the drivers would be the ones inflicting a lot more casualties.
- To encourage San Francisco riders to park their e-bikes at a dock, Lyft is charging a $2 fee if they don’t. (Mashable)
- Philadelphia should ban cars on Chestnut Street. (Billy Penn)
- A whistleblower reported concerns about the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation misusing funds years before the federal government started investigating, and was asked to resign as a result, according to a report obtained by Civil Beat.
- Dutch newspaper The Correspondent says it’s OK to fat-shame SUVs.
- Ever notice that Lego cities don’t have any bike lanes? The popular toy is being criticized for reinforcing car culture. (The Verge)
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