Streetsblog

Tuesday’s Headlines Are the Headlines of the Year

It's not SNL sketch: Elon Musk is really TIME's Person of the Year. Plus, transit equity, too-cheap parking and more headlines.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on December 14, 2021

Tuesday’s Headlines Are the Headlines of the Year

Is TIME trolling us? The magazine named Elon Musk — he of the self-driving cars that can’t actually drive and the reinvented subways that run Teslas instead of trains — its 2021 Person of the Year.
The Federal Transit Administration is asking for advice on how to ensure that fare and service changes are equitable. (Transit Center)
Free and cheap parking enables driving, and parking should be priced to factor in the costs of construction, maintenance, congestion and emissions. (CommonWealth)
California’s DOT, Caltrans, announced a Complete Street policy for all transportation projects it’s involved in. (Streetsblog CA)
A partnership between public transit agency Tri-Rail and private passenger rail operator Brightline has run into a problem: Tri-Rail’s trains are too wide to fit in Brightline’s downtown Miami station. (Miami Herald)
Setbacks and cost overruns have plagued plans to build 70 miles of new bike lanes and paths in the San Diego region. (Union-Tribune)
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced she’s hiring a “chief of streets” who has a strong background in transit and pedestrian safety issues. (Smart Cities Dive, Streetsblog MASS)
Nashville is launching a website allowing people to track traffic-related deaths and injuries. (WPLN)
Peoria is spending $19 million to widen a bridge to make room for bikes and pedestrians. (Journal Star)
The Houston Metro announced plans to build 25 miles of bus-only lanes for a cross-town bus rapid transit route. (Chronicle)
A small business owner is suing Pasadena, Texas, seeking to overturn the city’s minimum parking requirement. Ironically, the business is an auto repair shop. (Houston Public Media)
Drivers have killed 78 people in Denver this year, by far the most since the city began implementing Vision Zero in 2016. (Westword)
The Washington Post profiled a D.C. mom who became a safe streets activist after a van driver killed her daughter who was riding her bike. Pedestrian deaths have risen the past two years despite Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Vision Zero policy.
Blocking bike lanes is bad, but Eben Weiss thinks cyclists are often too quick to throw tantrums about it. (Outside)

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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