Monday’s Modest Headlines

A new online atlas looking at nine metrics for sustainable transit shows that it's not the size of the system that matters, it's how many people it serves.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on July 8, 2024

Screenshot via the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

Poland's third-largest city lacks a subway, but it does have the second-most sustainable transit system in the world behind Prague with 86 percent of residents living near transit lines, according to the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. Just goes to show that the fanciest is not always the best. (City Lab). StreetsblogUSA covered the same story in May.
The Biden administration is making available $600 million in grants to reconnect neighborhoods divided by urban freeways. (Clean Technica)
San Jose Spotlight warns readers about the bad-faith anti-transit arguments of conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute.
In May, all three of Chicago's transit agencies recorded their highest ridership numbers since 2019, an increase of 14% over the previous year. (Mass Transit)
Minnesota hit its limit just 18 minutes after opening an online portal for residents to apply for $1,500 e-bike rebates. More than 60,000 people attempted to apply for about 1,300 rebates. (Star Tribune)
Unlike Minnesota's first-come-first-served program, Atlanta's e-bike rebates are by lottery. About 9,000 people signed up for a chance at a rebate, with a total of $500,000 available. (Axios)
Houston Publi c Media asked listeners what they would change about Houston's roads, with many of the comments focused on a desire for narrower streets, wider sidewalks and more transit.
Residents of Washington, D.C.'s Bloomingdale neighborhood are "throwing an epic tantrum" about the prospect of better bus service. (Greater Greater Washington)
A heat wave is causing delays on Portland light rail. (KGW)
Indianapolis received a $22 million federal grant for the bus rapid transit Blue Line. (Recorder)
Recognizing the dangers of speeding cars, a fast-growing small town in Texas is building more sidewalks where it's never needed them before. (KXAN)
"You'll never catch me alive!" a self-driving Waymo told Phoenix cops. (Fox 10)