Monday’s Headlines Defy Duffy

It was a bad week for the transportation secretary, between firing too many DOT employees and his lawyers accidentally undermining their own case in a congestion pricing lawsuit.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on April 28, 2025

Gage Skidmore

So many U.S. DOT employees took DOGE up on its "deferred resignation" offer that now Sean Duffy is trying to hire some of them back. (Politico)
Even the Trump administration's own lawyers privately think they have a poor legal case against New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on congestion pricing. (CityLab, The American Prospect)
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold transportation funds from states that don't comply with the White House's immigration policies. (VT Digger)
More than a month after President Trump signed an appropriations bill, state and local governments are still waiting to hear how much federal formula funding for roads and transit they'll get this year. (Eno Center for Transportation)
Uber and Volkswagen are partnering to launch fleets of robotaxis in U.S. cities. (TechCrunch)
Dan Piatkowski's "Bicycle City: Riding the Bike Boom to a Brighter Future" explains how e-bikes and cargo bikes are transforming cities. (CNU Public Square)
A short PBS documentary details how University of California Berkeley students with disabilities made their own sidewalk ramps with sledgehammers, eventually ushering in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Milwaukee is turning a virtually unused stretch of highway into a two-lane street with greenspace and a bike and pedestrian path. (Urban Milwaukee)
A Philadelphia city council member is proposing to permanently protect a zero-fare program for low-income transit riders by putting it up for a popular vote. (Philly Voice)
San Diego adopted its first mobility master plan, with the goals of improving street safety and reducing congestion and pollution. (SD News)
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will start using bus-mounted cameras to catch illegally parked drivers by the end of the year. (WGBH)
Salt Lake City is rushing to finish bike lane construction, sidewalk improvements and other transportation projects before an $87 million bond issue runs out. (Tribune)
Electric vehicle registrations in Vermont rose by 41 percent last year. (Electrek)
Austin is raising its bikeshare fees, and the hikes will hit students especially hard. (Community Impact)
Scotland's government wants to cut car use by a fifth in the next five years. (BBC)
The AARP has a guide on what type of bike you should buy.