Friday’s Headlines Are Moving On Up
A Q&A with House transportation chair Peter DeFazio, the unpopularity of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo's 15 Minute City and more headlines.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EST on December 17, 2021
- Encouraging active mobility reduces congestion, pollution and deaths while improving the economy. (City Fix)
- Why should apartment-dwellers be consigned to live on wide, dirty, dangerous roads? (Slate)
- City Lab interviews retiring Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat who’s been one Congress’ staunchest champions for transit and bike and pedestrian safety since the 1990s.
- The Oregon DOT wants to know if it’s possible to undo freeway bottlenecks without inducing demand to the point that greenhouse gas emissions go up. (Bike Portland)
- Washington, D.C. will remove reversible car lanes and add bike lanes to Connecticut Avenue (Washington Post) but bike advocates are pushing Mayor Muriel Bowser to move faster on safety improvements (Axios). The city is also considering extending its streetcar by 2026 (DCist).
- Nashville Mayor John Cooper released a Vision Zero plan focusing on the 6 percent of roads where 60 percent of traffic deaths and injuries occur. (Tennessean)
- A fare-free transit pilot program in Boston found that subsidy recipients were four times more likely to ride the bus. (Mass Transit)
- Seventeen years after promising an interconnected rail system, Colorado’s Regional Transportation District has yet to deliver. (Denverite)
- Too often drivers literally get away with murder, but a 110-year mandatory minimum sentence for a truck driver who killed four people when his brakes failed on a Denver interstate seems a tad bit excessive. (Jalopnik)
- Even with federal COVID and infrastructure funding, the Central Ohio Transit Authority still must dip into reserves to cover a $31 million budget shortfall. (Columbus Dispatch)
- Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo spent her first term transforming Paris into a more walkable and bikeable city, and won re-election by promising more of the same. Less than a year later, her approval rating is 40%, and her presidential campaign has yet to take off. (Politico)
- London is considering imposing a new tax to keep afloat a transit system that’s struggled during the pandemic without service cuts or fare hikes. (Bloomberg)
- A Dutch city wants electric vehicles to do double duty as batteries that store power for the grid. (Fast Company)
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:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
When Are Parking Debates Just A Smokescreen for Hate?
A new paper finds that mosques are more likely to face pushback over parking than other houses of worship. What should planners do about it?
October 20, 2026
Tuesday’s Headlines Do the Robot
Cities and states are filling the void, but the feds really need to step in to set rules for autonomous vehicles.
October 20, 2026
The Math On Car Ownership For New Parents Doesn’t Add Up
An expecting Oakland parent makes the case for car-free parenting.
October 20, 2026
Why US Roads Are Full of SUVs and Trucks, Part I
Everyone says that Americans just love SUVs and pick-ups. But is that really true — or are there solvable structural reasons why our streets look like a monster truck rally?
October 19, 2026
Aging in Place Is a Mobility Problem, Too
How Spain is going the extra mile to help seniors age in place, even if doing it is an uphill climb.
October 19, 2026
