Thursday’s Headlines Are Infrastructure

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on April 15, 2021

President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan would double funding for transit, but that’s not enough to avoid climate change or provide access to jobs. It also devotes too much funding to EVs, which aren’t a long-term answer. (City Lab)
Biden still doesn’t favor raising the gas tax to fund infrastructure, arguing that it wouldn’t bring in much revenue and would violate his promise not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year. (Reuters)
Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent could have something to do with corporate donations to his campaign coffers. (Truthout)
Apart from the jobs bill, Biden’s proposed 2022 budget would boost transportation funding by 14 percent, including $625 million for passenger rail grants, $375 million for rail safety and $2.5 billion for transit grants. (Transport Topics)
Setting speed limits lower saves lives. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
Pedestrian Observations makes the case that a lack of connecting transit in U.S. cities isn’t an obstacle to high-speed rail.
Detroit’s I-375 — at one mile, the shortest interstate in the nation — is a prime example of how freeways decimated Black neighborhoods. (Jalopnik)
The Oregon DOT plans to take a portion of a middle school’s grounds to widen I-5 in Portland, bringing the freeway even closer to the school. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Merging transit agencies BART and Caltrain would make Bay Area transit faster, cheaper and easier to navigate. (San Jose Mercury News)
The Pennsylvania DOT plans to use $3 billion from the Biden jobs plan to widen I-81. (CBS 21)
Montgomery County, Maryland, is seeking $3.3 billion for transit and pedestrian projects from the infrastructure bill. (DCist)
The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board supports decriminalizing jaywalking.
Omaha’s sidewalks are crumbling and filled with obstacles. (3 News Now)
The UK should follow France’s lead in banning short flights that could be made by train. (The Guardian)
Thirty Dutch cities plan to ban fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles from their urban centers by 2025. (European Sting)

Blake Aued

Thursday’s Headlines Are Infrastructure

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