Streetsblog

Thursday’s Headlines Are Catching Up

$66 billion is a lot of money, but it's only enough for Amtrak to fix what it has. Plus, equity for women on transit and African Americans near freeways.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on August 19, 2021

Amtrak has been neglected for so long that its $66 billion in the infrastructure bill will mostly just bring intercity rail back up to speed, rather than build an Asian- or European-style system. (CNN)
The fact that interstate highways tore through urban Black neighborhoods wasn’t an accident. That was the plan all along. (Washington Post)
The majority of transit riders are women, yet transit systems throw up a variety of roadblocks, from sexual harassment to stroller bans to scheduling that doesn’t meet caregivers’ needs. (Ms. Magazine)
Urban rail stations were once vibrant community centers, and they can be again. (Mass Transit Mag)
The solo rush-hour commute might seem like a permanent fact of American life, but it is not. (Governing)
Uber, Lyft and other gig-economy companies are taking their successful anti-labor Prop 22 campaign to states outside California. (Jacobin)
Insurance is a rarely considered cost of owning a car, and it runs the average driver $1,800 a year. Detroit is by far the most expensive city to insure a car. (City Observatory)
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wants Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to referee a dispute among New Jersey, New York and Connecticut over COVID funding for transit. (Trains)
A proposed Colorado DOT rule would require state and local governments to consider the impact on climate change when approving road projects. (Colorado Public Radio)
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that records from a private but state-owned railroad company related to the failed Durham-Orange light rail line aren’t subject to open records. (Raleigh News & Observer)
Vancouver could beat New York to become the first North American city to try congestion pricing. (National Observer)
Prague’s first cargo-bike depot has been so successful at reducing carbon emissions that the Czech city is opening a second one. (Eltis)