Friday’s Headlines Come With a Warning
Better act fast, says Democrats' foremost transportation expert in the House, because if Republicans take over, transit funds might vanish.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on March 18, 2022
- Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the retiring chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, warned the Biden administration to disburse infrastructure funds as quickly as possible in case Republicans take control of Congress and shift money from transit to roads. (Bloomberg)
- More from NPR and Politico on the dubious merits of increasingly popular gas-tax holidays. It’s important to note, as Aaron Rupar does, that the current spike in gas prices is largely due to corporate profiteering and supply chain issues, not anything under government control.
- Cities like Richmond, Pittsburgh and Atlanta are examples of transit agencies that responded to the pandemic by better serving their core riders. (Transportation for America)
- Los Angeles, the poster child for choked freeways, started out as a railroad town, and it may become one again. (KCET)
- A political argument over transit-oriented development and increased density boils down to whether housing is a human right. Democrats say yes, Republicans say no. (CT Insider)
- Facing yet another budget deficit, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi is proposing trimming over a mile off a proposed light rail line and eliminating two stations. (Civil Beat)
- MARTA interim CEO Collie Greenwood testified to Congress that infrastructure funding will boost two Atlanta bus rapid transit projects and a new main rail station in Five Points. (AJC)
- Florida passenger rail company BrightLine is launching its own bike-share service, with 170 bikes at 17 West Palm Beach stations. (WPBF)
- The Florida DOT is rebuilding a Miami pedestrian bridge that killed six people when it collapsed four years ago. (Herald)
- Denver sidewalks are bad, especially for wheelchair users. (Denverite)
- Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti officials are considering asking voters to raise property taxes to fund transit expansion. (MLive)
- London has a plan to attract more bus riders and help the city become carbon neutral by 2030. (Intelligent Transport)
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.
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