Monday’s Headlines Are Soler Powered
- As you’ve probably heard, the infrastructure bill finally passed. Here’s what’s in it (Associated Press). For now, most of the coverage is of the “what it means politically” variety. Streetsblog editor-in-chief Gersh Kuntzman has a further breakdown. And Forbes highlights the inclusion of transponder beacons that can help drivers avoid collisions with cyclists, but also carry a lot of ethical questions about what happens if someone is walking or riding a bike without a smartphone.
- A bipartisan bill would give cities greater leeway to spend American Rescue Plan funds on infrastructure. (City Lab)
- Countries around the world are using fuzzy math to make it seem like they’re on track to reach their climate goals. (Washington Post)
- Also from the Post: No one (except Streetsblog) wants to talk about the environmental cost of mining for minerals to produce electric vehicles’ batteries.
- Speeding drivers in the U.S. kill 10,000 people a year, but we accept that as the norm. (Fortune)
- No one is entitled to public parking. (Real Change News)
- Technology could use the kinetic energy from walking on sidewalks to generate electricity. (CNET)
- Boston elected Michelle Wu as America’s first climate-change mayor. (Curbed)
- Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies are stopping cyclists and using minor offenses as an excuse to search them, primarily Latinos. (L.A. Times)
- Seattle’s Sound Transit received $273 million in COVID-19 grants from the Federal Transit Administration. (Mass Transit)
- Portland’s pandemic parklets program has businesses singing a different tune about parking. (Bike Portland)
- Richmond’s transit agency is fare-free and considering expansion. (Richmond Magazine)
- Toledo buses now have a dedicated sales tax, instead of relying on property tax revenue. (Blade)
- The wealthy Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead’s move to secede from the city has ramifications for completing the Beltline. (Saporta Report)
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution pronounced the Atlanta Braves’ new suburban stadium a parking success, despite the fact that, as Darin Givens pointed out on Twitter, it’s an asphalt hellscape with no access to transit.
- This Braves fan — yes, the chop is awful (Bitter Southerner) — is, however, happy to report that Jorge “Solar Power” Soler won Game 6 by hitting a home run over the fake train tracks at Minute Maid Park (Fansided).
