- With gas prices high, transit agencies have an opportunity to boost ridership. (CityLab, Marketplace)
- Neighborhoods that were redlined in the 1930s still have worse air pollution more than 80 years later. (New York Times)
- The $1.5 billion federal omnibus spending bill Congress passed last week includes $16 billion for transit and $3 billion for rail. (Mass Transit)
- The federal mask mandate on transit has been extended through April 18. (Roll Call)
- Speaking of high gas prices, already Tucson residents are looking for alternatives (KGUN). Omaha's bike-share is marketing itself as a cheaper alternative to driving (KPTM). And BikePortland has a guide to saving money by leaving your car at home, be it by bike or transit.
- As the link between the Capitol and the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue is important symbolically, but not for actually transporting cars. So federal and D.C. officials want to remake it as a bike-friendly corridor and linear park. (Washington Post)
- Consultants are urging Charlotte to choose the Silver Line light-rail route that attracts the most riders, but the city is intent on choosing the route that's least expensive. (WFAE)
- Private high-speed rail company Brightline is planning a new line between Tampa and Orlando. (WUSF)
- The Federal Transit Administration awarded Ohio transit agencies $33 million to upgrade facilities and older buses. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- Houston is forging ahead with future bus rapid transit projects despite disappointing ridership on the Silver Line. (Chronicle)
- Sam Massell, the Atlanta mayor who laid the groundwork for MARTA's heavy rail system in the late 1960s, has died at age 94 (AJC). Although historically resistant to transit, the city he once led is now embracing tactical urbanism to reduce cyclist and pedestrian deaths (Smart Cities Dive).
- Osceola County is the first county in Central Florida to start a Vision Zero program. (WESH)
- A new California report shows how a simple jaywalking ticket can lead to financial disaster for homeless and other low-income residents as the fees and fines stack up. (Raw Story)
Streetsblog
Monday’s Headlines Are Not Gonna Pay a Lot for This Gas
By Blake Aued
Whatever number you see at the pump shouldn’t influence how you vote. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Should Monday’s Headlines Carry a Carrot or a Stick?
Human beings generally don't like being forced to do anything, so Grist wonders whether policies like car bans could actually be counterproductive?
January 12, 2026
When the Government Says You’re ‘Weaponizing’ Your Car
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers have been brutalizing and killing people who they perceive as threats. Is mass automobility multiplying their pretext to do it?
January 12, 2026
Confirmed: Non-Driving Infrastructure Creates ‘Induced Demand,’ Too
Widening a highway to cure congestion is like losing weight by buying bigger pants — but thanks to the same principle of "induced demand," adding bike paths and train lines to cure climate actually works.
January 9, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Are Unsustainably Expensive
To paraphrase former New York City mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan, the car payment is too damn high.
Talking Headways Podcast: Poster Sessions at Mpact in Portland
Young professionals discuss the work they’ve been doing including designing new transportation hubs, rethinking parking and improving buses.
January 8, 2026
Exploding Costs Could Doom One of America’s Greatest Highway Boondoggles
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Project and highway expansion between Oregon and Washington was already a boondoggle. Then the costs ballooned to $17.7 billion.
January 8, 2026
