Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Today's Headlines

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.

Milwaukee promised Republicans that a streetcar extension would be completed before it hosted the GOP convention.

|Aaron Volkening
  • 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)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The Largest U.S. City With No Transit

Can communities really keep people moving without fixed-route transit? Find out on this visit to Texas.

November 21, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Tread Carefully

The Washington Post too a deep dive into the epidemic of pedestrian deaths, which rose from 4,300 in 2010 to more than 7,000 in 2023.

November 21, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Emotional Consumption in China

High-speed rail has completely transformed the country. Think about that sentence: "High-speed rail has completely transformed the country." When was the last time something positive like that happened here?

November 20, 2025

Cutting Federal Transit Funding Won’t Close Budget Gaps — But Will Make Transportation Less Affordable

The Trump administration's proposal to eliminate the mass transit account of the Highway Trust Fund would be short-sighted, ineffective, and ruinous, a new analysis finds.

November 20, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Get Schooled

It's still hard to find people willing to drive the ol' cheese wagon. And since so many places aren't walkable, guess what parents are doing?

November 20, 2025
See all posts