Monday’s Headlines Touched the Face of God
Transit agencies are struggling and Chicago keeps flooding, but hey, Richard Branson beat Jeff Bezos to space!
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on July 12, 2021
- As the pandemic eases, transit agencies will have to staff back up, as well as transition away from social distancing requirements and costly, unnecessary sanitation protocols without spooking riders. (Transit Center)
- Stimulus and unemployment checks aren’t what’s keeping drivers from going back to work for Uber and Lyft. Drivers have simply realized the job sucks. (Motherboard)
- Regional leaders think the federal government should provide more flexibility on infrastructure funding and spend more money on major, transformative projects. (Brookings Institute)
- The urban planning website Strong Towns has a released a book about how engineers tend to do things because that’s the way they’re done, which is why the ability to drive fast is usually their priority when designing roads.
- It’s not just ocean levels that are rising. Climate change is battering Chicago, where Lake Michigan’s levels lately vary by as much as six feet. (New York Times)
- The L.A. Metro will go fare-free for students and will no longer call police on unhoused people using the transit system, its CEO announced. (Los Angeles Daily News)
- Atlanta officials are hoping that renewed federal interest in infrastructure and healing the highway scars slashing through cities will result in funds to cap the Downtown Connector with greenspace. (Urbanize)
- By narrowing car lanes, Bloomington found a way to install a protected bike path on Seventh Street while also leaving room for a bus lane. (Indiana Public Media)
- St. Pete Beach is the first city in Pinellas County, Florida, to adopt a Vision Zero resolution. (Tampa Bay Newspapers)
- Fort Lauderdale is the latest city to fall for Elon Musk’s tunnel scam. (Vox)
- El Paso officials hope drivers see its new neon-colored crosswalks. (KTSM)
- St. Louis cyclists share their favorite rides in the region. (St. Louis Public Radio)
- Billionaires in spaaaaaace! (CNN)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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