Tuesday’s Headlines Have Their Heads in the Sand
A recent conference showed that the mainstream transportation community is still unwilling to reckon with the need to get people out of their cars.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EST on January 31, 2023
- At a recent transportation conference attended by many engineers, planners, businesspeople and policymakers, most presenters refused to acknowledge the reality that a system where 90 percent of people driving personal vehicles will never be efficient or clean. (Transportation for America)
- Transit agencies should better serve women, but referring to them as “vulnerable users” still centers the male experience. (Eltis)
- Still suffering from high vacancy rates at downtown office buildings, Bay Area Rapid Transit is counting on a future ballot measure to provide funding and avoid drastic service cuts once federal pandemic dollars run out. (CBS News)
- The Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s CEO dashed hopes for a Roosevelt Boulevard subway line, saying it’s just too expensive. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
- A Hillsborough County, Florida, transportation board nixed the idea of even studying whether to tear down part of I-275. (Tampa Bay Times)
- The details have yet to be worked out, but Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers in both parties say they want to push forward traffic safety legislation. (The Chronicle)
- The Cincinnati city council approved phase two of the Central Parkway protected bike lane project. (WCPO)
- Bus rapid transit is a better option for the circular Atlanta Beltline than light rail, opines a Georgia Tech professor. (Saporta Report)
- Syracuse’s mayor belatedly announced a Vision Zero initiative, four years after one council member first proposed it. (Post-Standard)
- Omaha launched a new website with information about a proposed downtown streetcar. (Nebraska Examiner)
- Snowplows piled up a mountain of snow on a St. Paul sidewalk, so these folks dug a tunnel. (Star Tribune)
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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