Wednesday’s Headlines Are Through With Drive-Throughs
And what if government regulators took car crashes as seriously as they took plane crashes? Plus other news.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on September 6, 2023
- Some cities are considering banning new drive-through restaurants to prioritize air quality and safety over driver convenience. (Planetizen)
- What if government regulators took car crashes as seriously as they took plane crashes? (WFAE)
- Tech billionaires’ secret plan to build a brand-new city near San Francisco has been exposed. (City Lab)
- BART ridership remains around 40 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but Bay Area officials hope to recoup more of the loss during “transit month” in September. (CBS News)
- Mayors across the political spectrum are uniting to blow up Texas Republicans’ “Death Star” legislation aimed at pre-empting home rule in liberal bastions like pro-transit Austin. (Texas Monthly)
- The Twin Cities’ now-banished minimum parking regulations ranged from the arbitrary to the absurd. (Minnesota Reformer)
- The Utah Transit Authority saw an increase in ridership when it offered students free passes, and it’s now extending the program to parents and guardians. (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Colorado’s fare-free summer improved transit ridership dramatically. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
- Denver will start collecting fees from property owners for sidewalk repairs next year. (Denverite)
- A Boston Globe editor calls for Massachusetts to emulate Washington, D.C. and use cameras to enforce bus lane violations.
- Even the Dutch spend billions on fossil fuel subsidies. (ABC News)
- Light rail in Lagos promises to cut a commute in the traffic-choked Nigerian capital from two hours to 15 minutes. (Reuters)
- In true Berlin fashion, protesters held a rave to block a highway project that would require the demolition of around 20 clubs and venues. (BBC)
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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