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Thursday’s Headlines Bid Farewell to DeFazio

Transit crusader Rep. Peter DeFazio is retiring. Plus, the Biden administration shifts funding away from roads, and why EVs won't save us from climate change.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on December 2, 2021

Thursday’s Headlines Bid Farewell to DeFazio

Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Photo: Bike Portland

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, won’t run for re-election next year. DeFazio is known as a wonky champion of green modes of transportation and fought for much more ambitious infrastructure bills that the Senate watered down. But he represents a swing district, and Republicans are likely to take over the House after the 2022 election. (Politico)
A federal DOT’s RAISE program, which mainly funded rural roads under President Trump, is pivoting to streetcar, bike and sidewalk programs in the Biden administration. (City Lab)
President Biden was in Minnesota on Tuesday selling the bipartisan infrastructure package. (CNN)
A Biden administration task force is charged with identifying marginalized communities and helping them apply for infrastructure funds. (Route Fifty)
Electric vehicles along won’t be enough to stop climate change. Cities need to become less dependent on cars overall. (Fast Company)
The transition to EVs will also be expensive, with Volkswagen alone spending $34 billion to build new battery plants and buy raw materials. (Reuters)
Magnetic pavement could one day solve EV’s range problem by recharging cars as they drive. (New York Times)
Cities are often hostile to parents with strollers, but funding for active transportation in the Build Back Better bill could change that. (The New Republic)
The Federal Highway Administration told Texas it can continue with design work on I-45 through Houston after suspending the project to investigate whether it violates civil rights laws. (Houston Public Media)
Far from reaching its Vision Zero goal, Portland has had 62 fatal crashes this year, with 26 involving pedestrians, approaching the record of 30 set almost 50 years ago. (KATU)
The infrastructure bill will boost Miami-Dade’s formula funding for transit by at least 24 percent, with the possibility of other grants as well. (Miami Today)
Baltimore has only 10 miles of separated bike lanes on 2,000 miles of roads. (Fishbowl)
Pittsburgh is considering banning parking in bike lanes. (City Paper)
North Carolina inexplicably cut Charlotte’s state transportation funding by $7 million. (Observer)
Sixty-six years ago Wednesday, Rosa Parks sparked the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, inspiring the Montgomery bus boycott and leading to the end of segregation on public transportation. (History)

Blake Aued

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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