Thursday’s Headlines Are Getting Congested
Congestion pricing is the answer to reducing traffic, not adding more lanes. Plus, the U.S. might finally be ready for high-speed rail.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on August 25, 2022
- Congestion pricing is better at reducing congestion than building more lanes, with the added benefit of reducing emissions and improving health. If it works in New York, it could spread to other cities. (Popular Science)
- The conditions might finally be right for high-speed rail to happen in the U.S. (GreenBiz)
- Environmental reviews are often the scapegoat for why the U.S. has gotten so bad at building infrastructure, even though they do a lot of good. The problem is the agencies responsible are understaffed and overwhelmed. (Motherboard)
- The federal infrastructure law could help make transit more accessible for the 30 million Americans with limited mobility. (Route Fifty)
- Parking lots are a waste of space, but if we’re going to have them, why not put solar panels on top? (CNET)
- With the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in crisis, Harvard experts say it and other transit agencies should go big or go home. (Gazette)
- California is expected to become the first state to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, and other states are expected to follow suit. The rule, up for a vote today, will take effect in 2035. (New York Times)
- New plans for the Nashville neighborhood around the Titans’ football stadium show boulevards with bus and bike lanes and grassy medians. (Tennessean)
- Indianapolis is converting one-way streets downtown into two-way streets, which makes them safer (WFYI). But the city is also replacing concrete bike lane barriers with flexible poles, making cyclists feel less protected (WISH).
- Richmond has restarted its bike-share program. (Standard)
- While other cities are getting rid of fares or at least moving away from fare enforcement, Toronto is fining streetcar scofflaws $425. (Daily Hive)
- A Denver man started making benches for bus stops out of scrap wood after seeing a woman sitting in the dirt while waiting on a bus. (Washington Post)
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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