Friday’s Headlines Are Mitching About Infrastructure
The Senate minority leader is telling governors they don't have to abide by Biden administration guidelines. Plus, GM's vampire robotaxis and more.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EST on February 11, 2022
- Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators are telling red-state governors to ignore the Biden administration’s “fix it first” approach and spend infrastructure funding on new roads if they feel like it. (Route Fifty)
- Electric vehicles will only be beneficial if manufacturers don’t keep making them bigger and bigger, and if drivers don’t keep driving more and more. (The Week)
- GM’s new robotaxis will only operate at night (CNN) despite evidence that autobraking doesn’t work well on dark streets (Streetsblog USA).
- “How Cities Work” author Alex Marshall is backing off his thesis that transportation is destiny. Other aspects of urban planning matter, too. (Governing)
- Washington state Democrats’ $17 billion transportation budget includes a lot of money for highways, but also for transit and safe streets. (Seattle Times)
- On the eve of a pilot program on three bus lines, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she hopes to make all transit fare-free. (MassLive)
- The Chicago Transit Authority is getting $912 million from the American Rescue Plan. (Mass Transit)
- Construction on Indianapolis’ second bus rapid transit line, the Purple Line, is starting next month. (Indy Star)
- San Diego officials are discussing a new type of impact fee based on how much developers’ tenants are expected to drive. (Streetsblog CAL)
- After four years, could Grand Rapids’ sidewalk snow-plowing pilot program go citywide? (MLive)
- Cincinnati is implementing more traffic-calming measures. (City Beat)
- Chapel Hill is considering a “dooring” law after a car passenger’s open door killed a cyclist. (Raleigh News & Observer).
- If you’re going to the Super Bowl and plan to drive, be prepared to pay out the nose for parking (Jalopnik). Of course, given that it’s in Los Angeles, taking transit could be a long and arduous journey (LAist).
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
Study: Americans Already Doubt the Myth that ‘Driving is Freedom’
...and most of them want real freedom to choose how they get around, too.
October 14, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Wake Up
The U.S. DOT's "war on woke" is going to get people killed.
October 14, 2026
Is America’s ‘First Autonomous Transit System’ Really Dead?
And what should Jacksonville teach us all about the role of technology in our transit future?
October 13, 2026
Why Progressives Don’t Deliver on Federal Transportation Policy
Democrats don’t take their progressive stances into transportation. Beth Osborne unpacks why in the first of this two-part series.
October 13, 2026
Inducing Demand for Tuesday’s Headlines
Just more one more lane, bro. I promise, one more lane will fix it.
October 13, 2026
