Wednesday’s Headlines Feel the Noise

Children forced to listen to loud traffic outside their schools show problems with reading, memory and attention span, studies show.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on June 26, 2024

Henry Be, CC

Children exposed to traffic noise at school perform worse on tests than their peers in quieter classrooms, a CUNY study found. Noise pollution — predominantly from traffic — is a global problem that leads to health problems as well as educational setbacks. (BBC)
Sure, humans are bad drivers, and computers are better — but only in the daytime, and only if they don't have to, you know, turn or anything. (Jalopnik)
Rising costs for infrastructure bear little relationship to growth in GDP, especially in English-speaking countries, so it's not just increasing wealth that's driving up costs. (Pedestrian Observations)
The federal government is lowballing the true number of traffic deaths because they don't count people who succumb to their injuries more than 30 days after a crash (or people who die on driveways, parking lots, and anywhere else outside of public roads.) (Streetsblog USA)
Minneapolis is the best big city for biking in the U.S., with Davis, California and Cambridge, Massachusetts topping the list of mid-sized cities, according to the latest People for Bikes analysis (Velo). Yet even the nation's strongest complete streets ordinance isn't enough to stop drivers from killing cyclists in Cambridge (CBS News, Streetsblog MASS).
Traffic calming and protected bike lanes on Houston's 11th Street made it statistically safer for everyone without significantly delaying drivers. Yet Mayor John Whitmire, who believes biking is solely recreational, might still reverse the changes. (Houston Public Media)
Hawaii agreed to fully decarbonize transportation by 2045 in settling a landmark lawsuit filed by a group of teenagers who argued that inaction on climate change violated their rights. (E&E News)
Nearly three-quarters of Muni riders in San Francisco rated service as good or excellent on a recent survey, the highest figure in 20 years. (Examiner)
Uber is locking New York City drivers out of the app during low-demand hours and blaming a city rule requiring ride-hailing services to pay drivers for idle time between fares. (Engadget)
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced plans to step up automated speeding enforcement as part of recommitting to Vision Zero. (Denverite)
Salt Lake City is using a $20 million federal grant to install smart sensors at intersections that give buses priority, resulting in faster bus commutes. (Tribune)
The mayor of Arlington, Texas endorsed a high-speed rail line to Dallas 30 miles away. (Newsweek)
During the pandemic, a Cleveland planner decided to run on every single street in the city to gauge their conditions up-close. Now, he's 780 miles into the 1,300-mile network, and he's found too many streets with crumbling sidewalks and no trees. (Scene)
San Diego's modern light rail system is no longer just a "trolley." (Times of San Diego)