The Veil Has Lifted From Friday’s Headlines
Where once I had car brain, now I can see. So repent, go forth and do guerilla urbanism, even if just means putting your carpentry skills to work.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on July 7, 2023
- “Car brain” explains why people so readily accept the risks of driving that they wouldn’t accept in any other daily activity. (The Atlantic; paywall)
- Some activists who aren’t infected with “car brain” continue to fight for safer streets by any means necessary. (Daily Beast; registration required)
- Everyday people can encourage transit ridership by making simple wooden benches and putting them at bus stops. (Strong Towns)
- Data from the pandemic shows that designing “slow streets” can help achieve Vision Zero. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Driverless cars are contributing to the surveillance state as police pull video from their cameras attempting to solve completely unrelated crimes. (City Lab)
- Collaboration is the key to wisely spending federal infrastructure funds and avoiding the mistakes of the past. (Route Fifty)
- The Biden campaign thinks quickly repairing I-95 in Philadelphia will earn him enough goodwill with drivers in swing-state Pennsylvania to get him re-elected. (Politico)
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in Portland today to visit 82nd Avenue, which the city transformed from a dangerous state highway to a safer Main Street-like corridor. (Bike Portland)
- Cincinnati’s Red Bike bikeshare is expanding into four new neighborhoods. (Local 12)
- You know something is wrong with both the housing market and the U.S. transportation system when a University of California student finds it cheaper to commute by air — the most polluting form of travel — than live in Berkeley. (USA Today)
- Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. (Jalopnik)
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
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
Speed Ills! Reckless Driving on the Rise in Car Ads, Study Shows
Car commercials featuring unsafe driving are rising — as are crash fatalities linked to speeding. Hmm.
May 12, 2026
Not For Granite: New Hampshire Man Isn’t Laughing At Anti-Cyclist Comments From State Elected Official
A voter sent this letter to state Rep. Thomas Walsh, but he speaks for all of us.
May 12, 2026
