Friday’s Headlines Are … Wait, It Is Friday, Right?
State-by-state breakdowns of the infrastructure bill are rolling in, and the terrifying new UN climate report is lighting a fire under cities to do something.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 13, 2021
- More than 600 U.S. cities have adopted climate pledges, but most of them lack any teeth. The new UN climate report is giving them new urgency. (USA Today)
- CityLab interviews EPA Administrator Michael Regan about how the infrastructure bill is a test of the Biden administration’s commitment to environmental justice.
- Infrastructure is expensive and takes a long time to build, and historically, the U.S. has a tendency to throw good money after bad because we have a hard time thinking ahead or weighing consequences. (The Conversation)
- Even though drivers are supposed to stay engaged when using driver-assist systems, they all work with no one in the driver’s seat. (Car and Driver)
- The National Resources Defense Council released a new toolkit to help transit agencies prioritize bus lines in an equitable way.
- Here’s what the Senate infrastructure bill means for Georgia (Athens Banner-Herald), Vermont (Vermont Biz), Ohio (Go Erie), Maryland (Baltimore Sun), Alaska (Anchorage Daily News) and Hawaii (KHON).
- Rush hour is back in California and worse than ever. (New York Times)
- The Detroit suburb of Macomb County is spending $10 million to widen 23 Mile Road for more sprawl when 800 miles of existing roadway are in poor repair with no money to fix them. (Crain’s)
- Boise took its first concrete step toward remaking State Street, a major thoroughfare, with bus rapid transit and bike lanes. (Idaho Statesman)
- An Iowa City Press-Citizen columnist says we spend too much on highways and makes the case for rural passenger rail.
- Toledo (Blade) and Boulder (Colorado Daily) are getting new e-bike and bike-share programs.
- A guy in a band called the Bicycle Thieves rode his bike to a train station. You won’t believe what happened next (yes you will). (Daily Record)
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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