Thursday’s Headlines Have Ways to Save
Cutting gas taxes won't save drivers much money—but policies that reduce driving will. Plus, the enduring legacy of Robert Moses and more news.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on April 28, 2022
- Cutting gas taxes may be popular with the public, but it’s not a good solution for soaring tax prices. Tax rebates and fare-free transit offer relief in the short term, and the long-term solution is to reduce demand by driving less. (Governing)
- Crime and transit ridership are intertwined in multiple ways. People feel safer in groups, so as ridership fell, the remaining passengers became uneasy. (New York Times)
- Transit leaders are not representative of their agencies’ ridership, skewing heavily toward the white male demographic and often living in suburbia. (Transit Center)
- Forty years after his death, Robert Moses’ way of thinking still dominates urban planning, with officials often placing property values before people. (The Baffler)
- Car-sharing could, somewhat counterintuitively, promote transit use, walking and biking while also reducing the amount of space wasted on parking. (Protocol)
- Massachusetts tops the League of American Bicyclists’ bike-friendly states, followed by Oregon, Washington, California and Minnesota. South Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Nebraska and Wyoming bring up the rear. (Planetizen)
- A Los Angeles pilot program will give 2,000 residents $150 a month that they can spend on transit and scooter, bike and electric vehicle rentals. (L.A. Times)
- California lawmakers are unlikely to halt a scheduled increase in the gas tax, but direct payments remain on the table. (Politico)
- A 1 percent sales tax for transportation will be on the November ballot in Tampa, with 45 percent of the $342 million in revenue going toward transit. (Tampa Bay Times)
- Downtown Pittsburgh cyclists are being squeezed between cars and sidewalk cafes. (WTAE)
- Uber will pay a $19 million fine for misleading Australian riders about cancellation fees and competing taxi fares. (Fox Business)
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
‘Our Roads Are More Than Just Highways’: Democrats Urge U.S. Senate Not to Defund Multimodal Programs
A Trump administration proposal recommends massive cuts to popular programs – and it will cost American communities more than they can afford, Senate Democrats say.
May 14, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Pump It Up
Until you can feel it (gas prices, that is). But you don't really need it (suspending gas taxes).
May 14, 2026
Study: Trump’s Transit Proposal Would Cost the Country So Many Jobs — And Not Just in Cities
... but an increase in funding would be a job-creating juggernaut.
May 13, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Are Bought and Paid For
The Union of Concerned Scientists explains how the highway lobby keeps so many of us in our cars.
May 13, 2026
Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink Our Congestion Obsession
Policymakers constantly suggest that we need to spend billions of dollars and bulldoze countless acres of land to fix traffic jams. But do we?
May 13, 2026
