Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog

Monday’s Headlines Are Going to Get Away for a Few Days

12:01 AM EST on December 27, 2021

Adams Morgan neighborhood, 1970s. Image: Nancy Shia via Smithsonian

The morning headlines are taking a few days off to celebrate the holidays, but will return on Dec. 30. In the meantime, here are some stories to help you avoid talking to your family, or bolster your arguments.

    • The Biden administration is taking aim at freeway projects that divided and destroyed Black communities. (Climate Wire)
    • The absurdly high cost of transportation projects in the U.S. means the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law won't fund as much as you think. (City Lab)
    • American drivers are addicted to speeding, and they really floored it when streets emptied out during the pandemic. (Slate)
    • That's not the only problem, though: People are drinking more, using more drugs and engaging in more reckless behavior as a result of the pandemic, which means the recent spike in traffic deaths might be here to stay. (Los Angeles Times)
    • Affordable, reliable transportation is a huge obstacle keeping many students from finishing college. (Hechinger Report)
    • Greater Greater Washington explains congestion pricing.
    • Toyota is the last automaker still experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells, which are more expensive and complicated than batteries. The reason has to do with Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, which led the country to start converting coal into "blue hydrogen" through an environmentally damaging process. (BBC)
    • Robert Moses is one of the great villains of modern urban planning, but without the stifling rules activists like Jane Jacobs put into place in response to his megalomania, it would be a lot easier to fix Penn Station. (The Week)
    • No, bike lanes don't cause congestion, but news outlets keep telling you they do because it's good for clicks. (The New Statesman)
    • Follow along as Alex Wolfe walks through America's dystopian car-centric hellscape. (Grist)
    • Looking for some videos to pass the time? Urban Review has you covered with a list of the top climate change YouTube channels.
    • In New York City, this year will be the year that deliveristas get better working conditions, according to Gothamist.
    • Finally, it is with sadness that we mention that Bishop Desmond Tutu has died (NY Times). In addition to his well-known integrity, dignity, courage and moral clarity, he was also a fan of cycling, once quipping, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring." (Seriously.)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

‘Duped’: Blowing the Whistle on an Illegal Temporary License Plate Business

Temporary license plates exist so that people who buy cars can drive them before receiving metal plates. But drivers found another use for them during the pandemic: buy a temp tag on the black market and you can keep your car anonymous and off the books.

June 9, 2023

Another Cyclist Attacked in Oakland

A passing car’s passenger assaulted cyclist David Colburn on Wednesday while he was riding his bike on San Pablo in Oakland. The passenger “…leaned out a window to intentionally smack me in the head.”

June 8, 2023

How Auto-Centric Infrastructure is Making Us Sick

Instead of endless promises to fix America's "crumbling roads and bridges," filmmaker Andy Boenau argues we need to talk about our crumbling minds and bodies — and how our autocentric infrastructure approach contributes to them.

June 8, 2023

Talking Headways Podcast: Undoing Autocentric Design in a Michigan City

A Michigan city tries to undo the mistakes of the past. It's hard.

June 8, 2023
See all posts