Wednesday’s Headlines Were Bankrupted by Cars
More than six percent of Americans are at least two months behind on their car payments, a nearly 30-year high, and the problem is only likely to get worse.
By
Blake Aued
12:11 AM EDT on October 25, 2023
- More Americans are currently behind on their auto loans since at least 1994. (Bloomberg)
- People are living in their cars in part because their monthly payments are so high they can’t afford rent. (New York Times)
- Portland officials are considering suspending bike parking requirements as a way to bring down housing costs, which even some bike advocates surprisingly support as a temporary measure. (Bike Portland)
- The L.A. Metro is on track to hit pre-pandemic ridership levels soon. (LAist)
- Honolulu has until the end of the year to resolve a dispute with the Federal Transit Administration and receive $744 million in federal funds for a light rail line. (Civil Beat)
- St. Louis County will reconsider funding for regional transit after a measure deadlocked because one Democratic council member was absent. (Post-Dispatch)
- A one-year pilot program in poverty-stricken New Orleans will provide fare-free transit for youth. (Transit Center)
- The Austin city council wants to delay the start of construction on I-35 due to air quality concerns. (Monitor)
- Gov. Spencer Cox has previously acknowledged that Utah can’t pave its way out of congestion, but now wants to widen I-15 and other state roads as part of an Olympics bid. (Salt Lake City Weekly)
- Since state lawmakers in Annapolis control the Baltimore transit system, one city delegate asked them to come ride it. (Banner)
- Stanford University’s hospital is violating an expansion agreement with Palo Alto to limit the number of employees driving to work and could have to pay a $4 million fine. (The Almanac)
- Buffalo is testing “smart streets” with bike lanes, moveable curbs, heated sidewalks and more on a seven-block stretch of downtown. (News)
- Forget flying cars — Uber is now disrupting the hot air balloon business. (Insider)
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:
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday Video: The Three Ingredients to a Great Trick-or-Treating Neighborhood
...and how your neighborhood can use good planning and community engagement to get more walkable long past spooky season.
October 30, 2026
Friday’s Headlines (Except Spooky)
Your annual reminder that letting kids safely roam around their neighborhood is not the top priority.
October 30, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Architecture Won’t Save a Bad Street
"We have accommodated car convenience over people for five decades — and we need to correct that," says today's guest.
October 29, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Live in an Endless Summer
Parts of the country are in the 80s in late October, but sure, let's spew some more methane into the air.
October 29, 2026
Could Congress’s Anti-Flock Surveillance Bill Ban Automated Traffic Enforcement, Too?
Livable streets organizers weigh in on a new anti-Flock bill.
October 29, 2026
