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Wednesday’s Headlines While You Try to Stay Warm

12:01 AM EST on February 17, 2021

    • After speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Biden said China is going to “eat our lunch” on transit and other issues if the U.S. doesn’t step up infrastructure spending. (BBC)
    • The Biden administration is shifting federal transportation policy toward transit, climate change and racial justice (Philadelphia Inquirer). Experts expect the DOT under Biden to emphasize electric vehicles, high-speed rail and tolling (Engineering News Record)
    • Despite a $10-billion investment in autonomous vehicles, they remain a solution in search of a problem and a long way from reality. (City Monitor)
    • High-speed rail is faster than driving, more convenient than flying and better for the environment than both modes. Fixed it for you, Cato Institute.
    • After a Seattle referendum gutted funding for Sound Transit, Washington legislators are considering a bill to raise car-tab fees to pay for rail projects. (Seattle Times)
    • Famously traffic-choked Los Angeles is launching a study on congestion pricing. (Eno Center for Transportation)
    • Over Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’s objections, the Atlanta City Council will let the state shut down a street in front of the Georgia Capitol for security reasons in exchange for safety improvements to dangerous Hollowell Parkway (11Alive). Thickening the plot, Bottoms denied rumors that the city was negotiating with Microsoft to widen the road in conjunction with a giant new tech hub (AJC).
    • Detroit’s QLine streetcar, shut down since March due to coronavirus safety concerns, is expected to start running again late this summer. (Free Press)
    • Uber is trying to head off European efforts to expand drivers’ rights by lobbying for Prop 22-style regulations. (Tech Crunch)
    • Budapest has a plan to boost rail ridership by 80 percent by 2040 (Rail Journal), while Edinburgh has a goal of creating a zero-carbon transit system in 10 years (Smart Cities World)

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