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
Friday Video: Take Transit to the World Cup … If You Can Afford It
Why are some cities forced to charge high fares to World Cup visitors who want to take the train, while others are giving away rides nearly for free?
May 1, 2026
Good Public Transit + Good Public Funding = Good Public Health
Transit agencies need to do more to remind policy makers of the connection between good public transportation and good public health, a report argues.
May 1, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Walk Warily
Don't be fooled by declining statistics. Walking in the U.S. is still too dangerous.
May 1, 2026
Boston’s New Climate Plan Is At Odds With Boston’s New Transportation Policies
Mayor Wu's climate plan calls on the city to cut traffic and "transform" its transportation system, but City Hall leadership is cancelling and delaying projects that would actually accomplish those goals.
April 30, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Logistics of Package Delivery
Benjamin Fong on out how e-commerce companies like Amazon have built their logistics systems and the difficulty of last-mile delivery.
April 30, 2026