Streetsblog

Wednesday’s Headlines Are Voting Yes

Voters will generally support tax hikes to fund transit if they think there's something in it for them, which is why BRT is a better bet at the ballot box.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EDT on May 11, 2022

Photo: Michael Kodransky

Voters will generally support transit levies when they feel the tax benefits them, which gives bus rapid transit a leg up over light rail. That’s because BRT is cheaper, so cities can build more lines and run them further out. Problems, arise, though, when officials start paring down proposed systems to cut costs. (Governing)
States should prioritize emissions, equity and access when spending federal infrastructure funds. (The City Fix)
Every transit agency is different, with a different structure and different challenges. (Smart Cities Dive)
Not content with squeezing drivers in an effort to turn a profit, perpetually money-losing Uber is now cutting costs at the corporate level as well. (Gizmodo)
Efforts to stop urban freeway expansions in California have a powerful opponent in labor unions, which view them a source of lucrative construction jobs. (Los Angeles Times)
Federal transit officials are investigating the death of a Boston subway passenger who got his arm stuck in a door. (Globe)
A future light rail line in the Seattle area may have been killed off by … the Coast Guard? (My Ballard)
A separated bike and pedestrian path alongside the I-74 bridge in Davenport, Iowa, is now open. (KWQC)
Bike lane projects in Richmond (NBC 12) and West Hartford (CT Insider) are underway.
Let’s start our morning with a little outrage, because everything kind of sucks right now: White rural Georgia sheriff’s deputies pulled over a majority Black women’s lacrosse team from a Delaware college and searched their bags for drugs while the team bus was returning from a match (WDEL). And Maine Sen. Susan Collins was triggered enough to call the cops over a very polite pro-abortion rights chalk message on the sidewalk outside her home (Bangor Daily News).