Streetsblog

Thursday’s Headlines Are Airing Grievances

Now come the infrastructure bill's feats of strength. Progressives don't like it, conservatives don't like it. Will they tag-team the moderates?

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on August 5, 2021

Whatever its flaws might be, the bipartisan infrastructure bill is the first time Republicans as well as Democrats have at least tacitly acknowledged the threat of climate change and the plight of underserved communities. (New York Times)
Also from the Times: Amtrak is happy with the Senate bill.
Transit advocates and other progressives feel left out of the deal, which has historic amounts of money for their causes but not as much as President Biden promised. (Politico)
Equity is an important lens through which to view infrastructure, not just because privileged neighborhoods don’t deserve better than others, but it also saves money in the long run. (Fast Company)
Politics makes strange bedfellows: The right-wing Cato Institute also has a lot of problems with the infrastructure bill, mostly related to the things Streetsblog likes.
Senate Democrats introduced a bill to tax the biggest greenhouse gas polluters hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for future climate disasters. (The Hill)
Employers that in the past had told employees that their commutes were their own problem are now being forced to reckon with the cost in time and money as workers refuse to go back to the office. (Bloomberg)
Seattle is among the U.S. cities where transit projects take too long and cost too much money compared to other cities worldwide. (Seattle Times)
The Baltimore Sun thinks a Red Line resurrection is unlikely, but some kind of east-west transit project could emerge out of the infrastructure bill.
Why are Houston’s roads so dangerous? Because they’re designed so drivers won’t let you get to the other side. (Houston Chronicle)
The City of Brotherly Love doesn’t have much love for Philadelphia’s roads. (NBC Philadelphia)

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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