Tuesday’s Headlines Are Too Poor to Drive
Inequality is rising, and a growing number of people are stranded without cars or access to good transit.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on March 21, 2023
- With income inequality growing and the cost of owning a car rising, people without cars who must walk or use shoddy transit are increasingly cut off from jobs, schooling and services. (Salon)
- Charging drivers to use increasingly precious curb space for parking and deliveries could be transit agencies’ ticket to a post-pandemic fiscal recovery. (Governing)
- A coalition of 22 transportation, equity and environmental groups are criticizing the Biden administration for backing down from its fix-it-first approach to road construction. (NRDC)
- “The Free Streets Manifesto” shows how to transform streets into places where people gather and enjoy themselves. (Pop Up City)
- Philadelphia transit agency SEPTA is mothballing the King of Prussia rail line after getting a negative reaction from the Federal Transit Administration. (Billy Penn)
- Seattle’s light rail expansion is underfunded, and what’s getting built is going to be different from what voters approved. (The Urbanist)
- The Washington State Supreme Court ruled that a man was “unlawfully seized” during a fare check, but upheld that fare checks are legal. (KUOW)
- Victims of traffic violence in Washington, D.C. don’t need an audit to tell them the city’s Vision Zero program is failing. (Washington Post)
- Two years into Vision Zero, Chapel Hill isn’t showing much improvement from education and enforcement. (WRAL)
- Following the success of a nine-euro monthly transit pass last summer, Germany has approved a 49-euro version covering all regional rail, metros, trams and buses nationwide. (The Guardian)
- This week Berlin voters will decide whether to push up their city’s carbon-neutral target date from 2045 to 2030. (The Mayor)
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.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
‘Our Roads Are More Than Just Highways’: Democrats Urge U.S. Senate to Fund Transit Programs
A Trump administration proposal recommends massive cuts to popular programs – and it will cost American communities more than they can afford, Senate Democrats say.
May 14, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Pump It Up
Until you can feel it (gas prices, that is). But you don't really need it (suspending gas taxes).
May 14, 2026
Study: Trump’s Transit Proposal Would Cost the Country So Many Jobs — And Not Just in Cities
... but an increase in funding would be a job-creating juggernaut.
May 13, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Are Bought and Paid For
The Union of Concerned Scientists explains how the highway lobby keeps so many of us in our cars.
May 13, 2026
Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink Our Congestion Obsession
Policymakers constantly suggest that we need to spend billions of dollars and bulldoze countless acres of land to fix traffic jams. But do we?
May 13, 2026