Friday’s Headlines Want Smaller Cars
Bigger isn't always better when it comes to electric vehicles — they're dangerous, not great for the environment, and the price is out of reach for most consumers.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on January 5, 2024
- Electric vehicle sales are sluggish because they’re too expensive, and they’re too expensive because they’re too big, which cancels out many of their environmental advantages. Incentivizing smaller vehicles, hybrids and public transit is a better way to meet climate goals. (Business Insider)
- A bipartisan federal bill would help transit succeed by clearing the way to build denser housing along transit routes. (CityLab)
- Red states don’t even want to track their transportation emissions, let alone actually do anything to lower them. (Streetsblog)
- It may be wishful thinking by a Lime executive, but among Smart Cities Dive‘s predictions for 2024: Cities will reconsider dockless bike and scooter regulations in an effort to keep private providers financially healthy.
- Nashville’s new mayor, longtime transit advocate Freddie O’Connell, will ask voters to approve a transit plan five years after a referendum failed. But the results could be different this time because traffic and housing costs have reached a crisis point. (Governing)
- A commuter rail line linking Milwaukee and its southern suburbs, killed in 2011, could be revived. (Urban Milwaukee)
- Seattle’s Sound Transit, where a third of riders don’t pay on the current honor system, is considering fare gates. (Seattle Times)
- In contrast to nearby Chicago, Evanston has not seen a traffic death in almost five years. (Illinois Answers)
- The Federal Transit Administration says Atlanta transit agency MARTA is an outstanding steward of taxpayer money. (WSB-TV)
- Streets.mn has a detailed dispatch on the health and future of Twin Cities transit.
- Connecticut transit riders are organizing in response to the state legislature’s failure to extend fare-free transit. (CT Insider)
- Raleigh transit ridership is at 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels but could be boosted by a return to full service. (Axios)
- Galveston’s Island Transit is considering cutting back service hours by 90 minutes. (BBN)
- Safe streets and accessibility advocate Steven Hardy-Braz is encouraging his fellow North Carolinians to check out the East Coast Greenway. (Daily Reflector)
- Mardi Gras season will kick off in New Orleans with a rubber-wheeled trolley in place of the North Rampart streetcar. (WWL-TV)
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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