Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Today's Headlines

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.

It’s amazing that people aren’t flocking to spend $100,000 on a ginormous EV.

  • 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)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

When the Government Says You’re ‘Weaponizing’ Your Car

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers have been brutalizing and killing people who they perceive as threats. Is mass automobility multiplying their pretext to do it?

January 12, 2026

Should Monday’s Headlines Carry a Carrot or a Stick?

Human beings generally don't like being forced to do anything, so Grist wonders whether policies like car bans could actually be counterproductive?

January 12, 2026

Chicago Explores Black Perspectives on Public Transit

"We're not going to fix decades of inequitable investment in one year, and things like the high-frequency bus network and the Red Line Extension are really important, but the work isn't done."

January 9, 2026

Confirmed: Non-Driving Infrastructure Creates ‘Induced Demand,’ Too

Widening a highway to cure congestion is like losing weight by buying bigger pants — but thanks to the same principle of "induced demand," adding bike paths and train lines to cure climate actually works.

January 9, 2026

Friday’s Headlines Are Unsustainably Expensive

To paraphrase former New York City mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan, the car payment is too damn high.

January 9, 2026

Talking Headways Podcast: Poster Sessions at Mpact in Portland

Young professionals discuss the work they’ve been doing including designing new transportation hubs, rethinking parking and improving buses.

January 8, 2026
See all posts