Thursday’s Headlines Are Free for Everyone

  • From Boston to Olympia, mayors are embracing fare-free transit as a way to address inequality. (Politico)
  • Safe-driving ad campaigns mostly don’t work, and the money could be better spent on other strategies, like speed-limiting technology or designing safer roads. (Slate)
  • The Biden administration is now taking a serious look at a gas-tax holiday (The Hill), which is a bad policy that doesn’t help drivers much, doesn’t encourage alternative modes and siphons money from transportation.
  • Remember the time a self-driving Uber killed a woman who was crossing the street in Arizona? (Clean Technica)
  • The Massachusetts Supreme Court blocked a Prop 22-style gig worker referendum that’s backed by Uber and Lyft. (CNN)
  • The latest plan for Austin’s Project Connect calls for closing “The Drag,” a popular strip near the University of Texas campus, to cars. (American-Statesman)
  • San Francisco museums want voters to allow cars on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park again. (Examiner)
  • Nashville Mayor John Cooper wants to ban sidewalk vendors in some parts of the city, saying they get in the way of pedestrians. (Tennessean)
  • Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has approved bike lanes on 11th Street, along with reducing vehicle lanes, pedestrian refuges, and more. (Houston Public Media)
  • Milwaukee County is overhauling its transit system in an effort to lure riders back and avoid a budget shortfall. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
  • The Pittsburgh Port Authority is now Pittsburgh Regional Transit, a name meant to better reflect its mission as, you guessed it, a regional transit agency. (Post-Gazette)
  • Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to transform the city’s ring road into a green belt. (Eltis)

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Study: Free Transit Helps Local Businesses

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A new study finds that commuters with access to free public transportation don't drive any less — but they do take more leisure and shopping trips than those who have to pay their own fare, which could help provide local economies with the cash they need to provide a broader range of social services over time. 

Why Arguments Against ‘Free Transit’ Are Missing the Point

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Free transit pilots are popping up around the world as the pandemic rages on — and so are heated debates about whether they'll stymie agencies' efforts to delivery the high-quality service that U.S. riders need. But what if those arguments are missing something fundamental about why we commodify basic mobility in the first place, and the many ways marginalized people are impacted when they can't afford a fare?