Wednesday’s Headlines, Like Elections, Have Consequences

It may not be a top campaign issue, but if their records are any guide, Harris and Trump offer starkly different visions on transportation.

By Blake Aued

12:02 AM EDT on October 23, 2024

Photo: Hequals2Henry, CC|

Houston’s Katy Freeway is 26 lanes wide in places and could get even wider.

Neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris talks much about transportation on the campaign trail, but the winner will have a huge influence on federal transportation spending and policy, Yonah Freemark writes. The first Trump administration spent almost half one discretionary funding program on new road lanes, while the Biden administration has made equity and the environment its top priorities. (Bloomberg, Streetsblog USA)
The rising cost of insurance contributes the financial burden of owning automobiles, with some families' bills topping $20,000. (New York Times)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a new investigation into Tesla after a driver using its badly misnamed "self-driving mode" killed a pedestrian. (CNBC)
An episode of the Transit Unplugged podcast highlights the importance of transportation networks during natural disasters like the hurricanes that recently hit the Southeast.
A Reddit post about Houston's shoddy sidewalks went viral, with similar complaints pouring in from all over the country. (The Cool Down)
Austin is launching a study to add bus lanes, bike lanes and shared-use paths to more than 100 miles of arterial roads. (Community Impact)
The private company that runs the Seattle monorail is proposing fare hikes. (Seattle Bike Blog)
Ridership on Pittsburgh buses isn't actually down; turns out, the counters the regional transit agency was using last year slightly overstated the number of riders. (Union Progress)
Las Vegas is adding 37 new e-bikes and 24 docks at six bikeshare stations. (KTNV)
North Carolina transit agency GoTriangle is building 10 new bus stops in Wake County. (Indy Week)
San Francisco bike lanes are brat. (Underscore)