Wednesday’s Headlines Are Free for All
Why fare-free transit is inherently good despite mixed results. Plus, DOT climate grants, a damaging Manchin side deal and more.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on August 3, 2022
- Evidence that fare-free transit gets cars off the road is mixed, but it should be free anyway, because transportation is a human right. (Wired)
- The Federal Highway Administration is taking applications for $7 billion in grants to make infrastructure more resilient to climate change. Transit, bike and pedestrian projects are eligible, too. (Mass Transit)
- You’ve heard of the Cornhusker Kickback, now get ready for the Mountaineer Milking: In exchange for supporting the climate change bill, Democrats have a side deal with Sen. Joe Manchin to expedite a West Virginia gas pipeline. (Washington Post)
- Three Republican senators want to make it easier to drive drunk by proposing a bill to reverse an infrastructure act provision requiring passive drunk-driving detection in all new cars by 2024. (Streetsblog USA)
- As it tries to implement the massive infrastructure law, the U.S. DOT is down 1,000 employees and slow to diversify its workforce. (Bloomberg)
- A Pew survey found that more Americans want other people to buy an electric vehicle than want to buy one themselves. (Market Watch)
- If everyone drove an EV, the world would be a lot quieter (The Conversation). But that presents a problem for people crossing the street, so what should an EV sound like? (The New Yorker)
- General Motors has lost $5 billion trying to develop a robotaxi. (Futurism)
- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, under fire from the feds for recent safety mishaps, could use its $400 million share of the federal infrastructure act to improve transit service. (Boston Globe)
- Two Colorado transit agencies declined to participate in the state’s fare-free August program, citing driver shortages. (Colorado Sun)
- Now that South Carolina has identified the state’s most dangerous streets for pedestrians, how about doing something about it? (Charleston Post and Courier)
- A Detroit man shot eight people, killing two, because he was mad that a neighbor parked in front of his driveway. (Fox 2)
- Take a scenic trip on a historic trolley in Northwest Arkansas. (Democrat-Gazette)
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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