Monday’s Headlines Wish It Was Sunday
The U.S.'s insatiable appetite for freeways has cost more than 1 million people their homes. Plus, universal basic mobility and cyclists riding strapped.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on November 15, 2021
- More than a million Americans, primarily Black, have lost their homes to urban freeways, and now thousands more may lose theirs to a new round of freeway construction in Houston, Austin, Charleston and elsewhere. (Los Angeles Times)
- Cities like L.A., Oakland and Pittsburgh are testing “universal basic mobility” programs that give residents free transit and bike-share rides. But in some places there are so few alternatives to cars that such programs are likely to have little impact. (City Lab)
- Cycling has been largely sidelined at the climate change talks in Glasgow in favor of electric vehicles, even though transitioning to EVs alone won’t be enough to save the planet. (Forbes)
- Governing examines the increasing influence of Donald Shoup’s “The High Cost of Free Parking.”
- President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure package is a policy and political success, according to The Guardian‘s pundits.
- The Biden administration is withholding $12 billion in transit funding from California, citing a state law restricting pensions for transit workers. (Sacramento Bee)
- The infrastructure bill could pay to cap the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia and reconnect Chinatown. (WHYY)
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee removed a roadblock from his climate agenda by appointing the state Senate’s leader to the post of secretary of state. (The Urbanist)
- Women are starting to ride e-scooters more, with almost half of Bird users in Atlanta identifying as female. (Mass Transit)
- The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is reducing service on most bus routes as a result of a staffing shortage. (AJC)
- Toxic drivers’ road rage has gotten so bad that some Texas cyclists apparently feel the need to carry guns when they ride. (Mel)
- Orlando drivers refuse to stay out of the bike path. (WFTV)
- Kansas City decriminalized jaywalking in May. But did you know the term itself originated in Kansas City? (The Pitch)
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.
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