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May Wednesday’s Headlines Rise Up to Meet You

Maybe there might be an Infrastructure Week after all — if Biden can figure out how to pay for and whether to even bother with bipartisanship.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on March 17, 2021

Instead of relying on debt like Democrats did with the Rescue Plan, President Biden plans to pay for his infrastructure bill by raising corporate, estate and capital gains taxes, as well as income taxes on the rich (Transport Topics). That may be why a hot mic caught Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) telling Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that Biden will likely have to use reconciliation again to push through an infrastructure package over Senate Republicans’ objections. (Politico)
As Biden pivots to infrastructure, he may find not just just the politics, but the technical challenges as difficult to solve as President Obama did. (Bloomberg)
Biden has backing from city officials, though. More than 300 signed on to a U.S. PIRG letter urging a bold infrastructure investment, including low- and no-emissions buses.
What will it take for the U.S. to get to zero emissions by 2050? A lot. In part, that means replacing 300 million gas-powered vehicles with electric ones and building a national network of charging stations, along with many other major lifestyle, economic and infrastructure changes. (The Guardian)
Fuel economy hit an all-time high in 2020, but as a reminder, that doesn’t mean too many new vehicles aren’t still ridiculously huge and dangerous, or that 26 miles per gallon will cut it if we’re trying to avoid a climate catastrophe. (Green Car Congress)
Georgia’s State Transportation Board member for the north metro Atlanta suburbs calls on mayors in his district to allocate sales-tax dollars for bus rapid transit. (Saporta Report)
Ohio transit advocates succeeded in fending off Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget cuts, but they want more than the measly $70 million that was restored. (WOSU)
Arlington officials are close to approving a $4 million pedestrian bridge that will make it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to access National Airport. (ARL Now)
Also from The Guardian: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to spend 3 billion Euros on bus lanes, new sustainable buses, price caps and more service, but critics say that’s not enough to get people back on transit after the pandemic.
The Philippines rides on Dunkin’: An outpost of the donut chain in Quezon City has its first-ever bike-through lane. (WFXB)

Blake Aued

Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.

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