Streetsblog

Monday’s Headlines Are On the Brink

If you think the traditional 80/20 highway/transit split is bad, wait until you get a load of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on July 26, 2021

A bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill is expected to be unveiled today (The Hill). The main sticking point is transit funding — typically, 80 percent of transportation funding goes to roads and 20 percent on transit. Republicans want to spend less on transit, while Democrats have apparently given up fighting for more and just want to maintain the status quo (NBC News). Moderate Democrats are so focused on a deal that they’ll probably allow the cuts (American Prospect). But more transit funding could be rolled into a Democrat-only reconciliation bill later (Roll Call).
Federal data shows that transit ridership is coming back, with some communities reaching 80 percent of pre-pandemic ridership. (Mass Transit
Surprisingly, the states that spend the largest percentages of their budgets on infrastructure are mostly red, including Nebraska, Tennessee, North and South Dakota, Alaska, Utah, Texas and Arizona. But most of that money was spent on utilities and highways. (U.S. News & World Report)
For a variety of reasons, California lawmakers are reluctant to pour more money into high-speed rail. (Cal Matters)
Massachusetts might be the only state left in what was originally a 13-state compact to combat climate change by taxing carbon. (Boston Globe)
A planned park built on top of I-95 in Philadelphia has been pushed back two years. (WHYY)
Lyft is bringing self-driving cars, accompanied by backup drivers, to Austin and Miami. (KXAN)
Bike rental shops in the South Carolina beach town of Hilton Head are reporting record bike and part thefts. (WJCL)
Asheville residents are pushing for more bike lanes after a spate of crashes. (Citizen-Times)
Don’t let Elon Musk anywhere near public transit. (Pop Dust)
Tax the space billionaires, one congressman says. (Forbes)
Why don’t more people get on bikes? Maybe it’s Hollywood’s depictions of cyclists as dorky kids or even dorkier spandex-clad adults. (Slate)

Blake Aued

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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