Tuesday’s Headlines Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit
Greg Shill argues that if a transformative road redesign isn't possible, it's time to talk about second-best strategies.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on May 7, 2024
- Rather than try for ambitious but unreachable reforms, transportation safety advocates should sidestep obstacles and go for easy wins, even if they’re not the best solution, one law professor argues. (CityLab)
- The Urbanist embarks on a four-part series about using land use policy to fight climate change.
- Mixed-use development isn’t enough to make a neighborhood walkable. The businesses have to be “useful” ones that provide daily necessities. (Next City)
- The Eno Center for Transportation quoted Streetsblog in a piece about how e-bikes are saving financially precarious bikeshares.
- New York City’s much-watched congestion pricing program could generate $15 billion to modernize aging transit infrastructure — if lawsuits don’t derail it. (NY Times)
- With six new appointees out of nine, the Houston Metro’s board of directors now seems intent on scrapping three voter-approved bus rapid transit lines. (Houston Public Media)
- Combining Chicago’s transit agencies seems like a no-brainer, but the Tribune editorial board thinks it’s more complicated than that.
- A California bill provides a funding mechanism for freeway caps to “stitch” back together minority communities divided by freeways. (Axios)
- Having thus far failed to achieve Vision Zero, San Francisco is now trying to solve the problem of traffic deaths with more cops. (SFBay)
- The Colorado Senate watered down a bill eliminating minimum parking requirements in many areas. (Newsline)
- A second Amtrak line and the opening of a train store points to a bright future for St. Paul’s Union Depot. (Star Tribune)
- Sri Lanka agreed to resume work on a $1.5 billion Japanese-funded light rail project, a sign it’s moving away from alliance with China. (Nikkei Asia)
- Sadiq Khan fended off a motorist-focused challenger to win a third term as London mayor. (Forbes)
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:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
Study: Trump’s Transit Proposal Would Cost the Country So Many Jobs — And Not Just in Cities
... but an increase in funding would be a job-creating juggernaut.
May 13, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Are Bought and Paid For
The Union of Concerned Scientists explains how the highway lobby keeps so many of us in our cars.
May 13, 2026
Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink Our Congestion Obsession
Policymakers constantly suggest that we need to spend billions of dollars and bulldoze countless acres of land to fix traffic jams. But do we?
May 13, 2026
Speed Ills! Reckless Driving on the Rise in Car Ads, Study Shows
Car commercials featuring unsafe driving are rising — as are crash fatalities linked to speeding. Hmm.
May 12, 2026
Not For Granite: New Hampshire Man Isn’t Laughing At Anti-Cyclist Comments From State Elected Official
A voter sent this letter to state Rep. Thomas Walsh, but he speaks for all of us.
May 12, 2026