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Friday’s Headlines Are Going Underground

12:00 AM EDT on May 20, 2022

The Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans is the nation’s top candidate for a highway teardown, says the Congress for New Urbanism. Photo: The Advocate via CNU

    • The "cap and cover" movement wants to bury urban freeways underground, reconnecting neighborhoods and ensuring they're no longer exposed to toxic fumes. (Daily Beast)
    • The U.S. DOT is offering cities $1 billion worth of grants to address racial inequities in transportation. (NRDC)
    • Fare-capping is a more equitable way of charging for transit that offers riders savings and flexibility. (Metro)
    • Regional agencies are better equipped than cities to regulate micromobility. (Government Technology)
    • Slate declares the era of cheap app-taxi rides over. As interest rates rise and money tightens, Uber and Lyft will no longer be able to burn through investor cash, meaning they'll have to charge customers more to become profitable. That could push riders back to transit.
    • All over the country, people are demanding safer streets, including at silent rides to honor crash victims in Washington, D.C. (WUSA) and Indianapolis (WRTV), at another vigil in Denver (CBS Denver) and in Florida, where drivers kill eight people a day (WFTV). In Seattle, there are calls for Vision Zero hearings (Capitol Hill).
    • The Cleveland city council is working on a new "complete and green streets" policy that would require transit, walking, biking and trees to be a part of transportation projects. (WCPN)
    • The Philadelphia Parking Authority is using a new force of bike-mounted officers to crack down on drivers who block bike lanes. (WHYY)
    • Residents of a predominantly Black part of Minneapolis are worried that the proposed new route for the Blue Line light-rail extension will split their neighborhood. (Star Tribune)
    • Portland is installing new "advisory" bike lanes on narrow, low-volume streets, where cars going in both directions share one center lane and can move into the bike lanes to pass each other. (Bike Portland)
    • The Delmar Loop trolley in St. Louis will resume operating in August after being shut down two years ago. (WMOV)
    • Kansas City is embarking on a study for an east-west streetcar or bus rapid transit line. (Star)
    • Tempe's new streetcar will be free for the first year. (News 12)

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