Wednesday’s Headlines Are a Good Deal
Planetizen makes the case that transit subsidies are well worth the expense because they benefit everyone — even drivers.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on April 9, 2025
- Transit is safer and cheaper than driving, it gives people access to jobs, and it reduces congestion. On top of those benefits, taxpayer subsidies for transit are paltry compared to the cost of roads and parking. (Planetizen)
- Car bloat has reached the U.K., where 1 million vehicles sold each year are too big to fit in a typical parking space. (The Guardian)
- Walk scores are more about the amenities available in affluent white neighborhoods than how safe it is to walk or how many people actually do walk. (Streetsblog USA)
- New York’s battle with the Trump administration over congestion pricing will continue until at least this fall, according to court motions. (E&E News)
- Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for Houston children. Slowing down traffic not only saves lives, but benefits small businesses as well. (Baker Institute)
- Colorado’s state-funded bus service, Bustang, filled the gaps left by Greyhound cuts, and now carries 24,000 riders a month between cities and small rural communities alike. (Governing)
- NIMBYs have been blocking a housing development on a D.C. Metro station parking lot for 25 years. (Washington Post)
- There is still no deal for state transit funding in Pennsylvania despite Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s proposed 35% cuts. (Post-Gazette)
- Republicans in the Texas legislature are considering proposals to cut Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s funding and block Project Connect, the voter-approved transit expansion in Austin. (Texas Tribune)
- Construction on Atlanta’s first new transit line in 25 years, the bus rapid transit A-Line, has been delayed and will not be finished this year (Urbanize Atlanta). But renovations at the main heavy rail station in Five Points are back on track (Axios).
- Similar to a recently passed Virginia bill, a bill the Georgia legislature approved would allow judges to order the installation of speed-limiting devices on the vehicles of drivers convicted of street racing. (Families for Safe Streets)
- An audit of the Twin Cities’ Southwest Corridor rail project found a number of problems with Met Council oversight. (Minnesota Public Radio)
- Baltimore settled a lawsuit over Americans With Disabilities Act violations, agreeing to spend $44 million replacing noncompliant ramps and sidewalks. (CBS News)
- Milwaukee is planning a road diet on South First Street. (Journal-Sentinel)
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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