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

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)