Thursday’s Headlines Are Politics-Free

  • While suburban commuter trains run empty during the pandemic, transit agencies are finally refocusing on their highest-ridership routes, which are not coincidentally used mostly by people of color and have often been the most underfunded. (Grist)
  • Human Transit‘s Jarrett Walker debates another transportation expert on whether access to jobs or ridership predictions should be the top priority of transit agencies.
  • American drivers are buying bigger and bigger vehicles that kill more and more people (Urban Wire). Convincing people to buy smaller and smaller vehicles that still meet most of their needs is key (Public Square).
  • The D.C. Metro says subways will be on reduced service at least through the weekend as an investigation continues into a derailment that forced the transit agency to pull about half its cars off the tracks. (The Hill)
  • Austin is fighting for transportation equity on two fronts: for a $7 billion transit plan and against the state’s plans to widen I-35 to 20 lanes. (Slate)
  • The new bus rapid transit G Line will connect some of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods (Intelligent Transport). And it looks like the Center City Streetcar is going back on ice after Mayor Jenny Durkin recommended it in her 2022 budget (The Urbanist)
  • As Atlanta prepares to elect a new mayor, light rail on the BeltLine is literally the third rail of city politics and may never fulfill its promise. (Saporta Report)
  • Ann Arbor has hired a consultant to make a Vision Zero plan that includes reducing traffic speeds (MLive).
  • It’s nice that customers pitched in to buy a 60-year-old Virginia fast-food worker a car (WUSA), but wouldn’t it be nicer if she had access to a reliable transit system?
  • A former prison bus is now an art exhibition/community center in Brooklyn. (Next City)
  • Now you can download and 3D print a carbon-friendly wooden bike. (Fast Company)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Rebutting the “Empty Bus” Argument Against Transit

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From Jarrett Walker over at Human Transit comes some very useful ammunition in the battle of reasonable people against knee-jerk transit-bashers. Walker begins his post by quoting from a story in Canada’s National Post headlined "Save the Environment: Don’t Take Transit." The article posits that because many buses run empty for much of the day, […]
Photo: Bradlee9119 via Flickr

Needed: A Federal Program to Boost Transit Service

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Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Transit Center and is republished with permission.  On March 13, 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, the Federal Transit Administration responded to the emergency by enabling transit agencies to spend federal funds to run buses and trains. It was a break with longstanding policy. Normally, federal grants are reserved […]