Streetsblog

Wednesday’s Headlines Warn of Waste

Here are this year's most outrageously expense and useless highways, according to U.S. PIRG and Streetsblog.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EDT on September 14, 2022

Cincinnati's Eastern Bypass boondoggle was proposed as a possible alternative to replacing the aging Brent Spence Bridge, above. Image: Landline via Creative Commons

U.S. PIRG‘s annual list of highway boondoggles that cost billions while doing little to relieve congestion includes wasteful projects in Maryland, Miami, Virginia, Minnesota and New Jersey. Streetsblog is breaking them down one by one.
Who needs self-driving cars? Bikes are the future of transportation technology. (Next City)
He signed it a month ago, but President Biden held another celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes billions to fight climate change. (Politico)
Uber has agreed to pay New Jersey $100 million in back taxes for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors. (New York Times)
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is preparing to launch a bus-route revamp later this month that will make trips faster and provide more service in core areas. (Times-Picayune)
A Sacramento ballot measure would ensure more of the sprawling development that makes transit expansion impossible. (Bee)
A woman who killed six people behind the wheel in Los Angeles last month gunned her Mercedes up to 130 miles per hour before plowing through a red light. (Jalopnik)
Kansas City has so many dangerous intersections that the city can’t fix them all at once. (KCUR)
Charlotte is starting an on-demand transit service. (Axios)
Louisville should combine its public works and traffic engineering departments into a department of transportation, as many cities like Cincinnati and Indianapolis have done. (Courier-Journal)
Arlington County, Virginia, is considering lowering speed limits. (WTOP)
Which option for bus rapid transit should Alexandria choose? (ALXnow)
Fayetteville, North Carolina, needs more sidewalks. (Observer)
File under: This doesn’t happen to transit riders. A tailgater’s grill ignited 11 vehicles parked outside a Miami Dolphins football game. No injuries were reported. (WSVN)
The next generation of European overnight trains aims to draw passengers away from airline flights. (The Guardian)
London is making several pandemic-era temporary bike projects permanent. (Intelligent Transport)

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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