Monday’s Headlines Are Fare-Free and Parking-Free
Cities continue to grapple with the ramifications of fare-free transit, as well as lifting parking mandates.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EST on December 12, 2022
- The Federal Railroad Administration is now accepting applications for $2.3 billion in grants for intercity and high-speed rail. (Mass Transit)
- Axios outlines the pluses and minuses of bus systems going fare-free as the regional D.C. Metro explores that possibility.
- While waiting for D.C. officials to finalize a decision to go fare-free within the district limits, Metro officials said it would attract riders but not fill a projected void in the system’s budget (Washington Post). The Post also points out that reliable service, which costs money, is important to riders as well.
- Los Angeles is the second-deadliest county in the country for pedestrians (L.A. Times). And not unrelated, with 3.3 parking spaces for every car and a $10,000 annual cost of car ownership, California is finally coming around to UCLA professor and parking guru Donald Shoup’s vision (also L.A. Times). Most recently, San Jose became the largest U.S. city to ban parking mandates (The Real Deal).
- Dissatisfied with half of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s safety recommendations, the Federal Transit Administration told the transit agency to resubmit its report. (Boston Herald)
- Minneapolis just opened its fifth bus rapid transit line, and advocates want the city to become the BRT capitol of the world. (Governing)
- Despite two high-profile fatal stabbings on the Houston Metro in the past month, statistics show and the city’s police chief says such violent incidents are rare. (Click2Houston)
- The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority removed the Old Fourth Ward streetcar from service until sometime next year because it needs $7 million worth of repairs. (AJC)
- Tampa Mayor Jane Castor touted the city’s streetcar as she launched her re-election campaign. (Florida Politics)
- A Cleveland nonprofit is focusing on nine dangerous intersections in the Ohio City neighborhood for Vision Zero improvements. (The Land)
- Why don’t more cities use simple traffic cones to create temporary bike lane detours during construction? (Seattle Bike Blog)
- If you didn’t already know that Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey was old-school, he’s lobbying carmakers to keep AM radios in new vehicles. (MassLive)
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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