Streetsblog

Tuesday’s Headlines for the People of Our Nation

Nobody was a fan of Bruce Springsteen's Jeep ad. Plus all the other news of the day.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EST on February 9, 2021

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is saying all the right things. He wants to make the U.S. a world leader in high-speed rail (The Hill). He met with transit workers at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station to discuss funding plans and the new federal mask mandate (DCist). And he tweeted that “roads aren’t just for vehicles —they are for people.”
A coalition of 22 transit agencies led by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is lobbying Congress for another $39 billion in federal funding to get through the pandemic. (Railway Age)
The pandemic has encouraged cities to cut red tape and experiment with curb space. (City Monitor)
Cities should add bike lanes and docking stations to support e-scooters. (U.S. PIRG)
Seattle’s Sound Transit is wrapping up work on three Northgate Link light rail stations. (My Northwest)
Pittsburghers for Public Transportation wants the Port Authority to use COVID relief funds to give low-income riders free transit passes. (Post-Gazette)
The St. Paul city council unanimously opposes widening I-94. (Pioneer Press)
The Omaha World-Herald got behind Vision Zero because, as the editorial board notes, drivers kill more people than murderers each year, yet traffic safety isn’t given nearly as much attention as homicides.
Madison is rerouting buses off State Street in preparation for a bus rapid transit line — one step toward making it a true pedestrian-only corridor. (Wisconsin State Journal)
B-Cycle is back in Greenville, South Carolina. (WSPA)
British hub-and-spoke transit systems don’t serve women well because women are more likely than men to chain together short trips. There aren’t enough female stakeholders despite the fact that women make up the majority of transit users. (This Big City)
In Germany, cars generally have the right of way, but a new law makes Berlin streets safer for pedestrians. (Deutsche Welle)
Uber Eats’ “Wayne’s World” Super Bowl commercial made Eater Chicago want to hurl. And nobody was a fan of the Bruce Springsteen Jeep ad (Refinery 29).