Friday’s Headlines Reap What They Sow
Turns out, states that voted for the "Leopards Eating People's Faces Party" are getting their faces eaten by leopards.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 22, 2025
- The Trump administration rescinded $2.2 billion in Biden-era transportation funding, and red states are suffering for it. Among the “woke” grants taken back: $88 million to reconnect a Utah city split by an interstate; $11 million for pedestrian safety in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and $24 million to reconstruct a railroad bridge in Missoula, Montana. (Politico)
- Lots of neighborhoods technically meet the criteria for 15-minute cities, but many people still drive because of disconnected walking paths, poor lighting or a lack of places to walk to, according to University of Auckland research.
- Philadelphia transit agency SEPTA released more details about the “death spiral” cuts and fare hikes taking effect next week. (NBC 10)
- Illinois legislators are calling a special session to deal with Chicago transit agencies’ $771 million budget deficit. (WKRN)
- Republicans’ “big beautiful bill” pulled $65 million for a trail network on Atlanta’s historically Black and neglected southside, but backers still want to build it anyway. (AJC)
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is demolishing a downtown Salt Lake City hotel to use the property for parking. (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Even without a special session to pass a bill raising more revenue for transportation, Oregon is in the middle of the pack among Western states for transportation spending. (Willamette Week)
- Minneapolis planners unveiled a design for a pedestrian plaza named for George Floyd. (Minnesota Public Radio)
- San Antonio community groups are calling for the NBA’s Spurs to provide funding for complete streets as part of a deal for a new arena. (Report)
- The BBC says that being in Tempe’s car-free Culdesac development is “like being in Greece.” Minus the 3,000-year-old ruins, we assume, although the heat does invite a comparison.
- Mountainous Mexico City is turning to cable cars to solve its epic traffic jams. (Yucatan Magazine)
- The Netherlands is applying “bikenomics” to transportation projects, looking at the overall costs and benefits to society, including maintenance, pollution and public health. (Transport Matters)
- Most of the happiest cities in the world just so happen to among the most bike-friendly. (Momentum Mag)
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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