Thursday’s Headlines Are Always at Your Back

  • Senate Democrats are considering taxes on carbon and truck mileage to pay for infrastructure. (Politico)
  • Road and transit maintenance projects create more jobs than building new highways. (Transportation for America)
  • In an interview with Slate, Amtrak CEO William J. Flynn says more frequent service between growing areas that are too close to fly between  —  like Atlanta and Nashville — would be a big hit, but he won’t cut money-losing routes to pay for it because so many places are reliant on them.
  • Curbside bus lanes are too easy to block, and not even cameras seem to work. (Reorientations)
  • While it’s not specifically about transportation, a Washington Post editorial about overreliance on police reminded us that much of the police violence against African Americans starts with a traffic stop.
  • Former NBA player Shawn Bradley was left paralyzed when a driver hit him while he was riding his bike near his Utah home in January. A Wednesday announcement by the Dallas Mavericks said he plans to become an advocate for bike safety. (ESPN)
  • Massachusetts’ congressional delegation blasted the state’s transit agency for cutting service despite receiving federal aid. (Boston Globe)
  • Bills to lower penalties for fare evasion and put unarmed safety officials on trains to assist the homeless have bipartisan support in Minnesota. (Star Tribune)
  • Houston residents are working with the city government to create pop-up bike lanes where the official ones dead-end. (Chronicle)
  • Charleston activists are pushing even harder for safer streets after learning that South Carolina is fourth in the nation for pedestrian deaths. (Post and Courier)
  • A Virginia bill allowing speed limits as low as 15 miles per hour would save lives. (Mercury)
  • E-scooters are back in Birmingham with new regulations. (Bham Now)
  • Anchorage mayoral candidates weigh in on transportation. (Daily News)
  • The small Georgia town of Valdosta is finally starting a transit service, 20 years after it became eligible for federal funds. (Daily Times)
  • Streetcars have been part of Tampa’s identity for more than 120 years. (Fox 13)

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Last night saw what might one day qualify as an historic moment in transportation circles, as vice presidential candidate Joe Biden used the "A"-word during his speech to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. From a transcript of Biden’s address, via CNN: You know, John McCain is my friend. And I know you hear that […]

GOP Proposal to Privatize the Northeast Corridor Meets Resistance

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House Republicans, led by Transportation Committee leaders John Mica (R-FL) and Bill Schuster (R-PA), have a plan to take the Northeast Corridor out of Amtrak’s control and privatize it. They’ve long called Amtrak a “Soviet-style operation” that loses money. Mica said that ridership of the NEC hasn’t changed since 1977, the year after Amtrak took […]

House GOP Wants Amtrak Out of the Commuter Rail Business

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At a highly politicized hearing on Tuesday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica slammed “Amtrak’s failure to compete with the private sector,” arguing that the national rail company should stop bidding to run commuter rail services. The hearing centered around a new report from House Republicans [PDF] criticizing Amtrak for competing with private companies for commuter […]