Friday’s Headlines Take Me to the River
Politico reports that the Biden administration is investing $2.5 billion in updating aging Mississippi River locks and dams like this one in Iowa. Transporting freight by barge produces less emissions than trucks or even rail.
By
Blake Aued
1:18 AM EDT on July 12, 2024
- The bipartisan infrastructure act includes $2.5 billion to improve locks and dams along the Mississippi River, allowing bigger barges through and potentially taking thousands of trucks off the road. (Politico)
- With gas tax revenue declining, some states want Amazon and other delivery companies to pay for road maintenance. (Stateline)
- Fast Company interviewed top congressional bike advocate Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) about bringing back manufacturing back to the U.S., among other topics. (Streetsblog USA did, too.)
- Better bus service can save families thousands of dollars in car ownership costs and help make housing more affordable. (El Pais)
- Bus manufacturer Bluebird received $80 million from the federal government to convert a shuttered Georgia plant to make electric school buses. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- The Seattle city council voted to put a $1.5 billion transportation levy on the November ballot. (The Urbanist)
- Dooring is still killing people on bikes, even though San Francisco has gotten safer for cyclists (Standard). However, the city is nowhere near meeting its Vision Zero goal ten years after adopting the policy (SFGATE).
- The Missouri DOT is spending $100 million to bring St. Louis sidewalks up to ADA compliance. (Fox 2)
- Austin Politics profiled Chris Riley, longtime champion of urbanism in the Texas capital.
- Several Milwaukee bikeshare stations will shut down next week for the Republican National Convention. (Journal-Sentinel)
- A Montana photographer’s project documents 70 years of road deaths. (Places)
- Harrisburg’s last trolley stopped running in 1939. (Penn Live)
- Take a bike tour of Cleveland’s iconic script signs. (Axios)
- Pavement art slows motorists in front of a Pittsburgh library. (Union Progress)
- Here’s where to eat along Tucson’s Sun Link streetcar. (Tucson Foodie)
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:
More from Streetsblog USA
Trump’s ‘Freedom Means Affordable Cars’ Rings Hollow As Gas Prices Surge
Real freedom is the freedom to choose how you get around — including not driving at all.
March 30, 2026
Monday’s Headlines Pedal Backwards
The Trump administration really does not want to make it easy to ride a bike.
March 30, 2026
Transit Safety For the People, By the People
One congresswoman wants to make transit safer, but not with police.
March 30, 2026
Friday Video: Five Bike Advocacy Mistakes You Don’t Even Know You’re Making
For one thing, make sure that political leaders who say "no" to livable streets experience consequences for their decisions.
March 27, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Take a Free Ride
Waymo has remote response teams, but when a robotaxi gets stuck, emergency responders have to get behind the wheel.
March 27, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.