Streetsblog
Thursday’s Headlines From Around the World
By Blake Aued
- President Biden hopes a $3 trillion infrastructure plan will keep the U.S. competitive with China for decades to come. But it won’t be easy — China plans to add 50,000 kilometers of new rail by 2035 (Bloomberg). China is responsible for 60 percent of global transit growth since 1995, while North America has built just 3 percent (Reorientations).
- Speeding, distracted and impaired driving and other dangerous behaviors while streets have been relatively empty and more people are walking during the pandemic led to a 22 percent spike in pedestrian deaths during the first half of 2020. (Streetsblog USA)
- One labor organizer thinks a government-run public exchange for gig workers could improve working conditions for Uber and Lyft drivers. (New Yorker)
- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority reversed course and will restore full pre-pandemic transit service. (WBUR)
- Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to widen I-94 in Milwaukee is wasteful spending that will exacerbate disinvestment in minority neighborhoods. (Urban Milwaukee)
- Almost half of the $930 million raised by a proposed gas-tax hike in Jacksonville would go toward expanding Skyline, the city’s automated people-mover. (First Coast News)
- Miami-Dade officials have approved a partnership with private train company Brightline for a new commuter rail line. (Miami Today)
- The cost of a wall separating light rail and freight on Minneapolis’ Southwest line has more than tripled to $93 million. (Star Tribune)
- As part of Mayor John Cooper’s Vision Zero plan, Nashville is lowering residential speed limits to 25 miles per hour. (WKRN)
- Charlotte is removing a temporary bus lane on one of its busiest corridors, Central Avenue, and turning it back over to drivers. (Spectrum News)
- Autonomous shuttles are running in Arlington, Texas, as part of a Federal Transit Administration pilot program. (State Scoop)
- San Francisco’s 48-year-old Transit First policy has become a punchline. (Examiner)
- Philadelphia is not spending enough money on sidewalks. (Inquirer)
- Tempe’s new streetcar has arrived. (Fox 10)
- Free transit in Estonia did not reduce car trips, according to a government audit, probably because the system is not designed to meet people’s needs. (Eltis)
- Plans for an elevated light rail line in Montreal are drawing harsh reviews for its big, ugly concrete pillars. (CBC)
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