Wednesday’s Headlines Have Ample Parking
Car storage has eaten up big chunks of many cities. Some of those cities are starting to wise up.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on March 29, 2023
- The average U.S. city devotes a fifth of its prime downtown real estate to parking. The problem varies by size and density — Des Moines has as many parking spaces as Seattle — but it’s making cities less walkable everywhere. (Big Think)
- The good news is, the parking reform movement is spreading. More than 30 cities have repealed parking mandates in 2023, already matching 2022. (CNU Public Square)
- Sprawl isn’t the will of the people or the result of the free market. It was created by government subsidies favoring automobiles. (Planetizen)
- The Federal Transit Administration is making available $212 million in federal grants for transit agencies affected by natural disasters. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Texas is considering adopting variable speed limits on highways, which the National Transportation Safety Board said could have prevented a 2021 pile-up that killed six people. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
- In a debate over the meaning of equity, Seattle’s Sound Transit is revising its plans for the Ballard Link to axe a station in Chinatown at the expense of connectivity for riders. (The Urbanist)
- The feds’ recent rejection of Philadelphia’s King of Prussia rail line should wake up the SEPTA board to mismanagement. (Billy Penn)
- Understaffing at Pittsburgh’s new Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is causing delays on construction and repair projects. (WESA)
- A Minnesota tax on ride-hailing and delivery fees would address a shortage of transportation funding due to declining gas taxes. (MinnPost)
- With nearly a billion dollars worth of unpaid tickets, Washington, D.C. isn’t holding drivers accountable. (WUSA)
- A garbage truck crashed into Milwaukee’s streetcar. (Journal Sentinel)
- Berlin is more than doubling the length of its passenger rail system, extending all nine lines in all directions, over the objections of leftist critics who associate subways with Nazis. (Pedestrian Observations)
- Coventry, England is testing its new ultra-light-rail system. (Cities Today)
- Public transportation has been fare-free in Luxembourg for three years and counting. (Euronews)
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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