Friday’s Headlines Want More Parks and Less Parking
The average U.S. city is about one-third parking, which contributes to heat islands that exacerbate the effects of climate change.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on July 28, 2023
- Parking has devastated once-vibrant downtowns, with 30 percent of U.S. cities devoted to storing cars. (The Conversation)
- Forty million Americans live in urban heat islands, where materials like asphalt absorb and retain heat. (NBC News)
- A U.S. House committee is holding hearings on regulating autonomous vehicles. (Smart Cities Dive)
- A new Transit Center report outlines how transit agencies that are struggling with staffing can attract and retain employees. Streetsblog has the summary.
- Audi’s new taillights will warn cyclists when they’re about to get doored. (Autocar)
- Lyft is looking to sell off its bike-share operations in New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and four other cities. (Bicycle Retailer)
- Sixty years after urban renewal, South Carolina is still building highways through Black communities. (The Guardian)
- Alabama is likely to go $1 billion into debt to build a new rural highway that even some advocates for widening existing freeways don’t think is necessary. (1819 News)
- The Federal Transit Administration is not going to fund Research Triangle commuter rail. (Axios)
- Philadelphia’s transit agency is considering building a $50 million parking garage on land near a station that could be used for mixed-use development instead. (Billy Penn)
- Tampa may kick bikes off the popular Riverwalk trail — and blaming “rogue cyclists” for riding irresponsibly. (Tampa Bay Times)
- Kalamazoo debuted a new type of street configuration with a single car lane and two bike lanes that drivers can also use to pass (MLive). Will drivers figure it out? Jalopnik is skeptical.
- Sleeper trains are making a comeback in Europe. (CNBC)
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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