Thursday’s Headlines Are a Bit Distracted

  • Dashboard screens have turned into “infotainment” devices that tempt digital natives to surf the web or play video games while behind the wheel instead of paying attention to the road. (Slate)
  • The Conversation calls for more funding to remove urban freeways after the Senate cut the Biden administration’s initial $20 billion proposal down to just $1 billion.
  • The U.S. needs to build hundreds of thousands of public chargers before Americans will consider switching to electric vehicles en masse. (New York Times)
  • President Biden spoke about the urgent need for action on climate change after touring Hurricane Ida damage in Louisiana. (NPR)
  • Who should pay for sidewalks? Tampa Mayor Jane Castor wants to charge developers, but builders say that will make housing more expensive, and taxpayers should foot the bill. (Tampa Bay Times)
  • Phoenix transit agency Valley Metro is seeking an extension of a half-penny sales tax for transportation. (Arizona PBS)
  • Philadelphia’s SEPTA is rebranding subways, trolleys and light rail as “the Metro” as part of a $40 million effort to make navigating the transit system easier. (Inquirer)
  • Kansas City is looking into potential extending its streetcar north over the Missouri River. (Star)
  • Entering the usually busy fall season, the Pittsburgh Port Authority is adding a second car to most trains. (Post-Gazette)
  • Long Beach police are looking for a man who shot and killed two people in a dispute over parking. (CBS Los Angeles)
  • Cleveland NIMBYs have fought off plans for bike-friendly sidewalks. (Plain Dealer)
  • San Diego is still widening roads despite pledges to shift away from cars. (KPBS)
  • A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and a bike lane’s no place for a horse, of course. (BlogTO)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Key House Republicans Aren’t Buying Administration HSR Proposal

|
Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement of a $53 billion infusion for high-speed rail has fallen like a lead balloon on the ears of some key GOP leaders. House Transportation Committee Chair John L. Mica (R-FL) and Railroads Subcommittee Chair Bill Shuster (R-PA) expressed “extreme reservations” about the plan. “This is like giving Bernie Madoff another […]

Biden Says High-Speed Rail Money Ignored Politics — Was He Right?

|
During yesterday’s Tampa event awarding $8 billion in federal rail grants, Vice President Joe Biden pointed to the two states receiving the biggest share of stimulus money for true high-speed train projects: Florida and California, both run by GOP governors. The vice president takes the president’s coat yesterday. (Photo: AP via Politico) "We didn’t pick […]

Is the Obama Administration Poised to Push Transit?

|
While President Barack Obama promoted wind power and cap-and-trade legislation, VP Joe Biden spent Earth Day talking up transit. Public radio’s "The Takeaway" reports that Biden held a presser at a bus maintenance facility in Landover, Maryland, to tout a $300 million investment in hybrid buses and other municipal vehicles as part of the federal […]

LaHood, Biden Meet With Governors on High-Speed Rail

|
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Vice President Biden met at the White House this afternoon with officials from 20 states in contention for funding as part of the Obama administration’s high-speed rail program. The high-speed Midwest Regional Rail Initiative’s proposed reach. (Photo: Michigan Messenger) "This is how the interstate highway system started, folks," Biden told […]