Thursday’s Headlines Are On the Loose

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• Minimum parking requirements — the promise that every driver will be able to access every building by car — have been a disaster for cities, driving up the cost of housing and turning the U.S. into a nation of strip malls. (The Atlantic)
• People working from home are actually lengthening the afternoon rush hour as they go out to pick up their kids or run errands. (Wall Street Journal)
• Democrats want to tax the wealthy and corporations to fund infrastructure, rather than rely on user fees that hit lower-income people harder (Roll Call). A bipartisan group of senators also wants to revive an Obama-era bond program (The Hill).
• A more data-driven approach to transportation allocations will result in more funding for transit, bike and pedestrian projects. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
• The first bike highway was built in California in 1897, and now they’re making a comeback, especially in Europe. (Cheddar)
• Maryland officials want to tear down Baltimore’s “Highway to Nowhere,” a half-built urban freeway scrapped in the 1990s amidst community opposition. (Baltimore Magazine)
• San Diego supervisors are considering a new fee on car-centric developments to encourage walkable urban growth. (KPBS)
• The Motor City has built 200 miles of bike trails since 2012. (Model D)
• Despite making a lot of progress on transit and biking under Mayor Bill Peduto (Pittsburgh City Paper), voters ousted him in the Democratic primary in favor of Ed Gainey, whom they perceived as more progressive (Tribune-Review).
• The Pittsburgh Port Authority is easing restrictions on bus capacities at the end of the month and lifting them in June. (WPXI)
• In Albuquerque, Bike to Work Day Friday is Bike to Wherever Day. (One Albuquerque)
• An engineer and social media celebrity who calls himself “Mr. Barricade” is building protected bike facilities in cities that lack the resources to do it themselves. (SFGate)