Wednesday’s Headlines from All Over the Place

  • The House transportation bill would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve passenger rail and fund transit — though not enough (Transportation for America). As Streetsblog points out, most of the funding will still go to roads.
  • But how to pay for it? Congress can’t decide, so it’s getting ready to go into debt. (Roll Call)
  • Autonomous cars won’t avoid about two-thirds of the crashes human drivers get into, according to a new study by an insurance industry group. About a third — those caused by distraction and drinking — are preventable by AI. (Car and Driver, Streetsblog)
  • The pop-up bike lanes and slow streets planners quickly created for social distancing didn’t include input from vulnerable people who are not safe in public spaces. Transportation policy should center minority communities instead of white comfort. (City Lab)
  • COVID-19 is a wakeup call for a new method of city planning that creates dense neighborhoods without creating luxury enclaves and addresses the lack of services that plague dense lower-income neighborhoods. (Fast Company)
  • Tamika Butler, the former executive director of the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, tells us how bikes can be a tool for inclusion and equality. (Bicycling)
  • Washington, D.C. painted “Black Lives Matter” on 16th Street NW near the White House, and now other cities like Raleigh, Sacramento and Oakland are following suit with similar street art. (Washington Post)
  • In the wake of the George Floyd protests, New York City transit advocates are pushing back against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to hire 500 new transit cops. (Daily News)
  • Citing privacy concerns, the ACLU is suing Los Angeles to stop the city from collecting data on scooter users.
  • Philadelphia transit agency SEPTA is now requiring all riders to wear masks. (Voice)
  • Jalopnik hates dockless scooters and is happy to see protesters set them on fire.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Today’s Headlines

|
House Democrats are eyeing a $450 billion price tag for their federal transportation bill but haven’t solved the revenue puzzle (WSJ) Obama administration’s new climate change report says transportation will affect the warming planet … but the warming planet also will affect transportation (NYT) Local transit agencies cheer the war spending bill for allowing them […]

Today’s Headlines

|
Oberstar bashes the Obama administration anew: "They have not given transportation any thought. I have." (NPR) DeFazio also keeps the heat on, calling LaHood a "good guy [who] knows nothing about transportation" (Oregonian) Freight and trucking lobbies decline to endorse Oberstar in his battle with the White House; truckers are concerned about his support for […]

Today’s Headlines

|
House passes weak "cash for clunkers" bill by a comfortable margin (CQ) Obama nominates Deborah Hersman, presently a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, to be the next chairman (Boston Globe) American Public Transportation Association (APTA) starts "Dump the Pump" campaign (CSP Daily News) Mag-lev train boosters in Las Vegas press on despite Senate […]

Today’s Headlines

|
Very bad news for train riders in the northeast: The Obama administration’s first rounds of high-speed rail money are unlikely to help improve Acela service, due to lengthy environmental reviews required by U.S. DOT (Globe) Two disparate takes on the House jobs bill: Does it represent "room for real debate" on a new federal transportation […]

Today’s Headlines

|
Cash-poor cities forced to sell off naming rights to transit lines and stations (Ad Age) Will House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar’s (D-MN) long journey come to naught this year? A profile to tell the story (CQ) Road-lobby chief calls for Washington to hike the federal gas tax (Baltimore Sun) Sen. Barbara Boxer […]

Today’s Headlines

|
Two days after rolling out its transit safety bill in the House, the Obama administration turns its attention across the Capitol (Banking Cmte Press) Will the House take up a jobs bill, including upwards of $50 billion in transportation spending, before 2010? Some say yes (The Hill), others say likely not (Politico) Transit operating aid […]