Wednesday’s Headlines Were Told There Would Be No Math Involved
Wider highways lead to more driving, and more driving leads to more pollution. But just how much damage Do new lanes do to the climate?
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on November 3, 2021
- Everyone knows that reducing driving — and by extension, not inducing demand by widening highways — is essential to curbing climate change. Now environmental and transportation advocates have invented a way to calculate exactly how much highway projects pollute the air. (Quartz)
- Residents of coastal, mountain West and Southern border states are more likely to be concerned about climate change. They’re also the ones most likely to be affected by it. (538)
- Noise pollution is also a thing, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill cracking down on loud cars and motorcycles. (The Week)
- The U.S. DOT is developing a new approach to safer streets in response to a record spike in traffic deaths. (Streetsblog)
- Fare-free transit is a major issue in the Boston mayoral race. (Governing)
- Washington, D.C. has a new dashboard where residents can track traffic safety projects. (Greater Greater Washington)
- Leaning heavily on federal aid, the D.C. Metro’s proposed budget would cut late-night fares and prices weekly and monthly passes to lure riders back. (Washington Post)
- A suburban Minneapolis county is considering pulling funding for the Northstar commuter rail line because ridership has plummeted during the pandemic. (Star Tribune)
- Indianapolis activists are lobbying for more sidewalks and bike lanes. (WFYI)
- A bike lane is coming to a Denver street where a driver killed a cyclist, and it only took two years. (9 News)
- The kids are alright: A Brown Daily Herald writer takes on the sorry cycling situation in Providence.
- Here’s a late Halloween scare: San Jose drivers can’t seem to tell light-rail tracks from the street. (East Bay Times)
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.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday Video: A Master List of All The Reasons Why Car Domination Sucks
Jason Slaughter catalogues the many harms of America's preferred transportation monoculture.
April 2, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Civil Rights, Civic Transport
Let's talk about "disparate impact" — and why the Trump administration wants to gut it.
April 2, 2026
Study: How Capping Vehicle Sizes Could Help Save the World
...and why a multi-pronged transportation reform strategy is critical to curb climate change, slash road deaths, and more.
April 2, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Take the Long View
Instead of panic moves like gas tax holidays, maybe governments should respond to high gas prices by providing alternatives to driving.
April 2, 2026
Opinion: Complete Streets Alone Don’t Make Complete Places
A well-intentioned focus on making streets that are safer to move along and across often misses the mark on creating places where people want to be.
April 2, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.