Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Wednesday’s Headlines Are Going Broke

Americans are bankrupting themselves paying for depreciating assets that they mostly drive short distances, when an e-bike would do just as well.

  • The average cost of owning and operating a car in the U.S. is now over $12,000 a year, which means a family with two vehicles is spending $25,000 a year on payments, insurance, fuel and maintenance. (Fast Company)
  • President Trump's proposed Amtrak budget would shift almost $300 million from the busy Northeast Corridor to other parts of the country (Trains). Possibly related: Paul Krugman wonders why MAGA hates New York City so much when the subway is safe and so many fewer people die in traffic than, say Florida.
  • It's illegal for the Trump administration to freeze funding for electric vehicle chargers, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. (Equipment World)
  • Two congressmen introduced a bill directing the Federal Highway Administration to fast-track 10 highway projects. (Transportation Today)
  • Under a recent Supreme Court ruling, federal agencies and judges can only consider the most narrow environmental impacts of infrastructure projects, not the broader effect on the climate. (Heatmap)
  • The Texas legislature did not pass the "DART killer" bill that would have crippled Dallas transit (Morning News) or another bill banning road diets (Houston Chronicle).
  • Seattle's Sound Transit is considering wholesale changes to major projects as it faces federal uncertainty, rising costs and declining tax revenue. (The Urbanist)
  • Blind pedestrians are suing Washington, D.C. over its uneven sidewalks. (WaPost)
  • Two slimmed-down versions of I-794 and a surface boulevard are among the four options the Wisconsin DOT is considering. (Urban Milwaukee)
  • Amtrak's Borealis route between the Twin Cities and Chicago carried more than 200,000 passengers in its first year. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
  • Ridership on Cincinnati's Bell Connector streetcar has more than doubled since it went fare-free in 2019. (Cincinnati Magazine)
  • Salt Lake City put a sculpture in the middle of a traffic circle in hopes of encouraging drivers to slow down. (Fox 13)
  • Should dogs be allowed on public transit? (New York Post)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: Amtrak Is Way More Successful Than You Think

Why do so many people still treat Amtrak as a failure — and what would it take to deliver the rail investment that American riders deserve?

October 24, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Are Hanging Out Down the Street

The same old thing we did last week — until the neighbor wrote a letter to the editor.

October 24, 2025

Report: Lessons from California’s HSR Project

A new paper from the Mineta Institute looks at California's high-speed rail project—and how to do better moving forward.

October 23, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Life After Cars

Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon of The War on Cars podcast on their new book, opposing views, Turtle Jesus and potential off-ramps towards car-free cities.

October 23, 2025

Traffic Congestion Is a Housing and Transit Problem, Not a Highway Problem

To truly solve tangled traffic in California (and across the U.S.), we need to take the problem out of the hands of the road builders and address the root causes of congestion: building more affordable housing near jobs and improving public transportation options.

October 23, 2025

Truckers Back NYC Busway Plan That Trump Blocked

The federal government has obviously lost its trucking mind.

October 23, 2025
See all posts