Tuesday’s Headlines Are For the Children

Kids used to play in the streets, but no more. Streets are for cars, and kids are confined to playgrounds.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on September 2, 2025

Playing road hockey in Vancouver.

|Pete/Flickr

The United Nations considers play a right for children, yet most cities are not designed for it. Roads are set aside for moving and storing vehicles. Only designated playgrounds are safe for children to play, but kids need more freedom for physical and mental health. (Forbes)
Progressives overreacted to overreach by Robert Moses-style autocrats during urban renewal, throwing up roadblocks to infrastructure projects that are now impeding progressive priorities like high-speed rail, according to SPUR.
The Eno Center for Transportation believes "regenerative financing" can help restore public confidence in transportation funding decisions.
A Philadelphia judge ordered SEPTA to halt future cuts to transit service or fare hikes starting Sept. 1 (NBC 10). Meanwhile, Mayor Cherrelle Parker is using city funds to restore service on bus lines used by students while awaiting a state solution to the budget crisis (WHYY). Local leaders and transit advocates lambasted Republican state lawmakers at a recent town hall meeting for failing to fund transit (City & State Pennsylvania).
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California legislators reached a deal with Uber and Lyft allowing drivers to unionize. (Los Angeles Times, Politico)
A transportation funding bill narrowly passed the Oregon House of Representatives on Monday, sending it to the Senate. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The Federal Way light rail extension in Seattle is set to open Dec. 6. (The Urbanist)
Drivers hit two pedestrians crossing at the same San Antonio intersection last week. (News 4)
Bike Portland loves the new road diet on Northeast Broadway.
Savannah officials are crediting Vision Zero for the city's safest summer ever, with just five traffic deaths so far in 2025, as opposed to 14 or more in previous years. (Morning News)
Bakersfield defended its bike lanes in the face of a very strange grand jury investigation, noting that they reduced crashes with motorized vehicles by half. (Californian)
Researchers in China believe they've solved the problem of "tunnel booms" when maglev trains enter an enclosed space at 370 miles per hour. (The Guardian)