Streetsblog

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)