Friday’s Headlines Chart a New Course

  • The pandemic and higher awareness of climate change and racial injustice set transit agencies on a more equitable course in 2021. (Governing)
  • In big cities, pandemic-era open streets often benefited wealthier neighborhoods, but smaller cities’ programs tended to be more equitable. (City Lab)
  • As Omicron tears through the U.S., transit agencies are concerned about another plunge in ridership, in addition to staffing shortages (RT&S). In Pittsburgh, seven Port Authority employees have died of COVID-19 (Trib Live).
  • Some Honda owners are annoyed that their cars’ clocks think it’s 2002, which, we know, world’s smallest violin, but it also makes you wonder how such a software glitch could happen. (Jalopnik)
  • The Oregon and Washington DOTs are using 15-year-old traffic projections to push for a $5 billion I-5 widening project (City Observatory). Meanwhile, Portland’s Metro Council is demanding that light rail or bus rapid transit be included in an I-5 bridge replacement (Bike Portland).
  • Oregon Walks’ executive director is sick and tired of drivers killing pedestrians in the same neglected parts of Portland. (Willamette Week)
  • DDOT has a new list of priority bus projects that, while not sexy, will make it easier to get around D.C. without a car. (Greater Greater Washington)
  • Houston’s bike-share wants to expand into underserved communities. (Houston Public Media)
  • A four-year Memphis transportation plan includes several bike and trail projects, as well as BRT connecting downtown and the University of Memphis. (WREG)
  • 700 tons of rail arrived recently for a Kansas City streetcar extension. (Star)
  • A Charlotte art teacher and her class painted a 300-foot-long mural in an Uptown bike lane. (Spectrum)
  • Call him Sway-or Pete: Get your official Pete Buttigieg bobblehead doll right here!

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Photo: Bradlee9119 via Flickr

Needed: A Federal Program to Boost Transit Service

|
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Transit Center and is republished with permission.  On March 13, 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, the Federal Transit Administration responded to the emergency by enabling transit agencies to spend federal funds to run buses and trains. It was a break with longstanding policy. Normally, federal grants are reserved […]

Menendez: Transit Agencies Need Help Escaping Tax-Shelter Trap

|
Lingering questions over the role that tax shelters played in the D.C. Metro crash continue to pique congressional interest in helping local transit agencies break free of lease deals with Wall Street. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has just written to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) — who is working on a new funding package […]