Friday’s Headlines Go the Conventional Route
Political conventions give a boost to host cities' transit projects, like a Milwaukee streetcar and a new L station in Chicago.
By
Blake Aued
12:52 AM EDT on August 16, 2024
- It’s not quite the Olympics, but hosting a political convention like the DNC in Chicago next week gives cities an incentive to get transit projects built faster. (ABC News)
- Heat forces trains to slow down to avoid damaging the tracks, and as the climate gets hotter, this is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. The infrastructure can be fixed, but it will be incredibly expensive. (The Atlantic; paywall)
- “Battery passports” allow companies and regulators to digitally track where the materials to manufacture them came from, offering reassurances that child labor or environmentally damaging mining weren’t involved. (Politico)
- Firefighters are making streets less safe by demanding wider lanes for their huge fire trucks. (Jalopnik)
- The Washington Post has an interactive feature about Barcelona’s pedestrian-friendly superblocks.
- Boston’s transit system is underfunded and falling into disrepair, and it’s hurting the city’s economy. (City Lab)
- Opponents of widening I-5 in Portland filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Rose Quarter Project. (Willamette Week)
- Portland announced multi-year contracts with Lime and Lyft to expand their e-scooters fleets, and will make the micromobility program permanent. (Bike Portland)
- Minneapolis is considering changing parking rules in residential neighborhoods to encourage people to drive less. (MinnPost)
- Tech billionaires have pulled their plans, for now, to build a whole new city in Silicon Valley. (Fast Company)
- A San Francisco woman who was pinned to a wall during a jaywalking arrest has filed an excessive force complaint against the officer. (NBC Bay Area)
- Social media influencers in Atlanta are posting about their car-free lifestyles. (AJC)
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
How DC’s Mayor and Council Chair Thwarted Every Effort to Better Its Streetcar
There are two reasons why D.C. doesn't have the streetcar system it was promised — and their names are Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson, one urbanist argues.
March 26, 2026
An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Thursday’s Headlines
There's so much the U.S. could have done to insulate residents from spiraling gas prices, other than suspend taxes.
March 26, 2026
Why Cities Need More ‘Agile’ Streets
When projects are routed through a full capital-improvement workflow, solutions tend toward expensive, permanent interventions — not alternatives that might achieve 80 percent of the benefit at 10 percent of the cost.
March 26, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Feel Pain at the Pump
High gas prices are likely to persist, and people will be driving less in response.
March 25, 2026
D.C. Advocates Sue To Save Key Bike Lane From Trump Teardown
We previously reported that the Trump administration might soon move to dismantle key cycle tracks in the nation's capital. Unfortunately, we were right.
March 24, 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.