The Buck Stops With Monday’s Headlines
Harry Truman was known for whistle-stop campaigning, and interstates are associated with Eisenhower. But that's not entirely true, as the Eno Center explains.
By
Blake Aued
12:14 AM EST on December 9, 2024
- Harry Truman was the first U.S. president whose life and career was dominated by the automobile. As a private citizen, he sold memberships to a motorists’ club and lobbied for federal funding to build highways. As senator and president, he fought for traffic safety and tried to pass legislation requiring tests to get a driver’s license. (Eno Center for Transportation)
- The November election brought doubts about whether the Trump administration will continue President Biden’s record levels of transit investment (Railway Age). Specifically, Trump’s election ended any hope of a federal bailout for struggling Bay Area transit agency BART (San Francisco Chronicle).
- The U.S. DOT released a playbook of strategies for state and local governments to tackle climate change, including active transportation and transit-oriented development. (CNU Public Square)
- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in a case that could weaken the federal environmental review project for infrastructure projects. The case stems from a Utah rail line that would transport oil. (The Conversation)
- Portland officials attribute persistently high levels of traffic deaths to a post-pandemic erosion of cultural norms where people feel like they can drive however they want. (BikePortland)
- A new comprehensive plan makes Milwaukee County eligible for a $5 billion pool of federal funds for safer streets. (Urban Milwaukee)
- Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. officials are discussing more regional funding for the D.C. Metro. (Virginia Mercury)
- The Denver Regional Transportation District approved a record-high $1.2 billion budget. (Denver Post)
- Support in Michigan is growing for more investment in transit. (Bridge Michigan)
- WBUR interviewed the author of a report on how the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority went broke.
- The L.A. Metro approved plans for a North Hollywood-Pasadena bus rapid transit line. (Pasadena Now)
- A St. Louis bill would revamp the traffic-calming system so that residents asking for speed humps don’t have to depend on an alderman who may or may not want to help them. (St. Louis Magazine)
- Philadelphia won’t start ticketing drivers for blocking bike and bus lanes until next year, when new signs are installed. (CBS News)
- Tempe is installing red-light cameras at 14 intersections. (KTAR)
- Kansas City is building 10 blocks of sidewalks to connect a school to the surrounding neighborhood. (KSHB)
- Washington Post readers set the paper straight about editor Marc Fisher’s recent anti-bike lane column.
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.
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