Friday’s Headlines Have Bad News and Bad News
Two rather pessimistic stories wonder whether the U.S. will ever rid itself of the car death cult.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on June 30, 2023
- We know how to stem the tide of needless traffic deaths in the U.S. — redesign streets and regulate vehicle size. It’s just that bureaucratic inertia and industry lobbyists prevent us from doing it. (The American Prospect)
- Can city planners ever halt, let alone reverse, the car-centric sprawl of the past 100 years? (Deseret News)
- Recognizing the often hidden costs of being stuck in traffic, the National Review urges conservatives to be open-minded about congestion pricing.
- A new survey found that three-quarters of Americans would pay more for a house in a walkable neighborhood. The percentage drops with age, though, from 92 percent among Gen Z to 56 percent for the Silent or Greatest generation. (Realtor Magazine)
- Trucks drive 175 billion miles each year in the U.S., and between a fifth and a third of those miles, they are empty. (Transport Topics)
- The California budget deal still leaves Bay Area transit agencies $60 million short. (SFBay)
- A short circuit probably caused an accident that killed a Boston train rider last year, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (Railway Age)
- A venture capitalist tried to talk Austin into spending $2.6 billion on a network of tunnels built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company. (Fortune)
- Denver cyclists can now register their bikes with the city to help identify them if they’re stolen and recovered. (Denverite)
- Kansas City’s transit agency has dropped plans to build a transit-oriented high-rise and dissolved its development arm. (Flatland)
- St. Louis has plans to improve 10 of its most dangerous intersections. (Post-Dispatch)
- While some cities consider banning new drive-throughs, walkup windows are already popular in Minneapolis and St. Paul. (MinnPost)
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
Every Friday’s Headline Is Sacred
When transit funds are wasted, God gets quite irate.
October 16, 2026
Friday Video: When Walkability Isn’t Enough … Even in the Great Cities of Europe
What happens when livable places get overwhelmingly popular before we can build more of them — or when other failures of design and governance make them bad places to live?
October 16, 2026
Newsom Signs Bill to Better Align California Transportation Spending With Climate Goals
SB 1087 updates California’s landmark sustainable communities law, strengthening the connection between regional climate plans and transportation investments.
October 15, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Passion Problem in Public Transit
Where should the most enthusiastic supporters of transit try to work?
October 15, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Are Trouble for Tesla
Autonomous vehicles just can't seem to behave themselves.
October 15, 2026
