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Friday’s Headlines Are Looking for a Match

Will struggling transit agencies be able to come up with the matching funds to win federal infrastructure grants?

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EDT on May 13, 2022

Friday’s Headlines Are Looking for a Match

East Cleveland hasn't been able to compete for roads funding from NOACA for years, due to lack of matching funds. Photo: Prohelpreality

The federal infrastructure bill could be transformative for transit, but there’s a catch: Agencies are going to have to find matching funds to win competitive infrastructure grants, and with ridership and fare collections still down from the pandemic, those dollars are hard to come by. (Governing)
BET interviewed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about how the infrastructure act can be a game-changer not only for Black transit riders, but minority-owned businesses, while noting that skepticism still exists in the Black community.
Turns out, Idaho stops where cyclists are allowed to treat stop signs as yield signs reduce crashes by 23 percent. (Streetsblog CAL)
Slate‘s big idea for EV chargers is to … build more of them, in various places, at various strengths.
Minnesota lawmakers are at odds over how to spend federal infrastructure funds, with the Republican-run Senate opting for more roads, while the Democrat-controlled House wants climate-friendlier options like EV chargers and passenger rail. (Star Tribune)
The L.A. Metro’s bus route redesign is being hamstrung by a shortage of drivers. (Transit Center)
Two years after Austin voters approved Project Connect, construction costs for light rail have already risen 77 percent. (The Texan)
Speed cameras on Philadelphia’s notoriously dangerous Roosevelt Boulevard have reduced traffic violations and crashes. (Inquirer)
Palm Beach County, Florida, leaders are considering running light rail down the middle of busy State Route 7. (WFLX)
Buzzfeed has an interview with the person who wrote the very polite sidewalk message asking Sen. Susan Collins to protect abortion rights that launched a thousand civility-is-dead ships.
Driverless cars are cops. (Vice)
Sydney is considering a congestion tax, but don’t want anyone to know about it. (Morning Herald)
Dezeen takes you inside a new London subway station.

Blake Aued

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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