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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)

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