Streetsblog

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Just Trying to Get to Work

Put the pieces together, and today's headlines will tell you a lot about how the public and private transportation sectors are failing most of our society.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on June 29, 2021

It’s been criticized from the left, but an environmental policy professor and former Bill Clinton advisor argues that the infrastructure compromise a major climate win (The Hill). Regardless of its merits, the deal is still a tough sell for both parties (NPR).
Yonah Freemark’s Urban Institute piece we posted about yesterday dovetails with a UNC-Charlotte study on how low-income workers are forced into neighborhoods far from jobs without access to transit, as well as another study highlighted by Gizmodo reinforcing the notion that the only way for cities to solve gridlock is to get more cars off the road.
Cities are starting to recognize that connectivity is an important component of equity. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
Big Tech is investing in driverless cars because they would free up hours behind the wheel and let drivers spend more time looking at their phones. (Bloomberg)
The New Yorker has … some kind of point to make about the 19th century railroad boom and our current infrastructure predicament.
Bay Area transit projects keep falling behind schedule and going over budget. (San Jose Mercury News)
The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is investing $100 million in affordable housing near rail lines (11 Alive) and taking the first step toward electrifying its bus fleet (Electrek).
Post-pandemic, Boston drivers are worse than ever. (Globe)
Detroit’s popular Belle Isle Park is closed whenever the parking lots are full. It needs better bus access. (Metro Times)
The Buffalo News says the dream of a revived streetcar system isn’t just Boomer nostalgia.
Bike-share trips grew 60 percent in Chattanooga during the pandemic. (WDEF
Bicycling magazine profiles a Florida/New Hampshire cyclist who keeps pedaling despite having been hit by a driver twice.
Climate change, schmimate change: The heat wave in Portland is literally melting streetcar cables. (Twitter)