Monday’s Incredible Expanding Headlines
Vehicles are getting bigger and heavier, not just in the U.S. now, but overseas, David Zipper reports for Slate.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on December 16, 2024
- American “car bloat” is spreading as drivers in Europe and China increasingly favor bigger trucks and SUVs, threatening progress on fuel economy, emissions and road safety. (Slate)
- Transit could face significant cuts during the first year of the Trump administration due to the bipartisan infrastructure law expiring, changes to grant programs and policies at the U.S. DOT, and the federal highway trust fund’s looming insolvency. (Transportation for America)
- American City & County weighs the pros and cons of bus rapid transit versus light rail.
- The EPA selected 31 recipients for $735 million in grants to buy 2,400 zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles like buses and box trucks. (Green Car Congress)
- Serving a new basketball arena in Philadelphia will cost the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority over $20 million a year — money it doesn’t have and the 76’ers owner refuses to provide. (American Prospect)
- WTOP interviewed the D.C. Metro CEO about the transit agency’s latest budget proposal, which includes expanded service rather than the drastic cuts riders feared.
- Atlanta is getting its first bus-only lanes next year, and transit agency MARTA is asking the Georgia legislature for permission to use automated cameras to enforce them. (AJC)
- The Portland city council approve a $120 million plan to extend a streetcar line to a massive new mixed-use development. (KGW)
- Microtransit in Charlotte’s SouthPark neighborhood won over a nonbeliever. (Ledger)
- On Jan. 1, California will start enforcing its new “daylighting” law barring drivers from parking near intersections and crosswalks, blocking the line of sight. (KTLA)
- San Antonio reached an agreement with the Texas DOT for a two-way cycle track downtown. (KSAT)
- The director of the Baltimore DOT is the latest high-ranking official to leave Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration (WYPR). The head of Seattle’s DOT is also stepping down (Capitol Hill). On top of that, the manager in charge of The Hop streetcar in Milwaukee was forced out back in October (Fox 6).
- Daniel Penny, the man recently acquitted of killing a mentally ill, homeless fellow passenger on the New York City subway, was a guest of Donald Trump and JD Vance at the Army-Navy football game. (NY Post)
- Advocacy group Cycle Toronto is challenging Ontario’s new bike lane restrictions in court (Momentum). Bike advocates are fighting back in other ways as well, like through art projects (Streets of Toronto)
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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