Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

Thursday’s Headlines Are On the Road Again

As gas tax revenue shrinks, states are considering a mileage charge instead. But maybe they don't need so much money for roads, since building them just makes traffic worse.

Atlanta: not walkable.

|AtlantaCitizen
  • Widening roads actually makes traffic worse, according to a new study encompassing 24 cities. The studies found that speeds slowed by 0.014 percent for every one percent increase in capacity. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
  • States are moving toward a mileage-based road usage tax as the gas tax revenue that have historically funded transportation shrinks. (USA Today)
  • While much has been written about coastal cities' "doom loop" (including on Streetsblog), Midwestern cities are in bigger trouble. Creating walkable neighborhoods is one way they can recover. (Business Insider)
  • California's budget deal includes $1.1 billion in new spending for transit and rolls back Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed cuts. (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Now that Gov. Tina Kotek has told the Oregon DOT to pause toll collections, the DOT is pausing plans to widen two Portland freeways that would have been funded by tolls. (Portland Mercury)
  • The collapse of I-95 showed why Philadelphia should build the Roosevelt Boulevard subway. (Philadelphia Citizen)
  • A federal grant will fund a complete streets study of the major Cincinnati artery Westwood Northern Boulevard. (Spectrum News)
  • Four options have emerged for a "pedestrian-first" Brady Street in Milwaukee. (Urban Milwaukee)
  • Research Triangle buses will remain free for the next year, but maybe not after that. (Raleigh News & Observer)
  • The KANcycle bikeshare serving rural Kansas communities is expanding. (KSAL)
  • Bird is rolling out bikeshare service in Burlington, where another company abruptly went bankrupt last year. (WCAX)
  • A Richmond filmmaker and Streetsblog contributor's new documentary will delve into how car-centric land use is harming our health. (Greater Greater Washington, Streetsblog USA)
  • Newly elected Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is a daily bike rider who wants to tear down urban freeways. (Toronto Star)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The H.A.R.D. Fight Against Hit-and-Runs

Streetsblog USA senior editor Kea Wilson sits down with Tiffanie Stanfield of Fighting H.A.R.D.

December 12, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Have an Apartment in Every Garage

New York City is turning homes for cars into homes for people.

December 12, 2025

How Chicago Cyclists Are Fighting Food Insecurity (And ICE Crackdowns)

"We're on bikes, we're outside, and we see street vendors not only as beloved members of our community but also as some of the most vulnerable, because they have to be outside to earn a living. And so that's where our role as community organizers, advocates, and caring neighbors comes into play."

December 11, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘The Dawn of the NIMBYs’

"We kind of live in this eternal present of cities being a certain way and always seeming to remain that way." And that's bad, says today's guest.

December 11, 2025

Report: Speed Cameras Working in San Francisco, Floundering in Bureaucracy in L.A.

Great progress and success in the Bay Area, while So Cal lags.

December 11, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines See Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

Yes, it's political, but transit agencies are still going to have to grapple with the perception that it's unsafe.

December 11, 2025
See all posts