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Tuesday’s Headlines Want to Stop Driving

12:00 AM EDT on March 15, 2022

Image: PxHere, CC

    • Owning a car is becoming increasingly expensive, and commuting more and more miserable. Most Americans don't have a choice, however, because transit service is so poor. (The Guardian)
    • Liberal environmental reforms meant to encourage citizen participation are now being used to stymie transit projects and affordable housing, writes Ezra Klein. (New York Times)
    • An e-bike can travel 2,000 miles on the cost of one gallon of gas. (Electrek)
    • Omaha is seeing record numbers of bike-share users and bus riders because gas prices are high. (KETV)
    • Uber is tacking a fuel surcharge onto rides. (The Verge)
    • Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she is likely to veto a bill suspending the state's gas tax (Detroit News). But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin said a gas-tax cut is on the table at the federal level (Reuters), even though consumers wouldn't notice much difference.
    • California's embattled high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco is emblematic of the U.S.'s inability to do big infrastructure projects anymore. (NYT)
    • Ordinarily a $2 billion economic development project creating 7,500 jobs would be a huge win for Gov. Brian Kemp, but Rivian's electric vehicle plant in rural Georgia has turned into a partisan political football. (NYT)
    • Durham, N.C. officials want to know what happened to the $167 million they spent on a failed Research Triangle light rail line. (Raleigh News & Observer)
    • Washington state Democrats have agreed to a $17 billion transportation bill. (The Olympian)
    • Even though Teamsters support it, a gig-worker bill in the Washington legislature is a bad deal for Uber and Lyft drivers. (Jacobin)
    • Florida legislators gave Miami-Dade $3 million to upgrade a trail along a the South Dade Transitway. (Florida Politics)
    • Boulder has a new type of traffic-calming device called a "speed kidney" that functions as both a bump-out and a speed hump. (Boulder Beat)

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