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

Tuesday’s Headlines Fight Fire With Fire

Berkeley, Calif., is far from the only city where the fire department dictates transportation policy.

  • Nobody wants to criticize the fire department, Darrell Owens writes, but it's important to point out that they're wrong when they claim that pedestrianizing streets impedes emergency vehicles. Firefighters spend far more time responding to fatal wrecks than structure fires, and if they do find that streets are too narrow to pass, they can buy smaller trucks. (The Discourse Lounge)
  • Robotaxis are coming to more than a dozen U.S. cities next year. (Axios)
  • Pittsburgh Regional Transit is looking for more state funding after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro bailed out SEPTA (Post-Gazette). The state's Democratic House leader also slammed the Republican Senate for failing to put together a transit funding package (WTAJ)
  • Salt Lake City commuters have a hard time traveling between the east and west sides, in part because of a freeway that splits the city in half. (KSL)
  • Sound Transit is stepping up efforts to keep Seattle stations clear of bird droppings. (Seattle Times)
  • The Federal Transit Administration looks likely to approve a grant for Austin's Project Connect light rail line. (American-Statesman)
  • The Detroit suburb of Shelby Township will build a pedestrian bridge over a river to close the last sidewalk gap leading to two local schools. (Detroit News)
  • Data center construction in rural Louisiana is causing a huge spike in crashes. (Governing)
  • Port Huron's main downtown corridor is getting a road diet. (The Keel)
  • 'Tis the season for the Houston Metro to be jolly. (Chron)
  • Looking for a gift for the urbanist in your life? Planetizen has a list of book ideas.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

In NYC, Unlicensed Drivers Comprise One-Quarter Of Street Fatalities: Data

Unlicensed drivers are linked to fatal crashes much more often now than pre-pandemic

January 13, 2026

Tuesday’s Headlines Need Exercise

Every hour in a car increases the risk of obesity by 6 percent, while walking a kilometer lowers it 5 percent.

January 13, 2026

Opinion: Stop Asking If People Want to Ride Bikes

"We shouldn’t be aiming to nudge a few percentage points in public opinion. Our goal should be to make freedom of mobility so compelling that people demand it."

January 13, 2026

When the Government Says You’re ‘Weaponizing’ Your Car

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers have been brutalizing and killing people who they perceive as threats. Is mass automobility multiplying their pretext to do it?

January 12, 2026

Should Monday’s Headlines Carry a Carrot or a Stick?

Human beings generally don't like being forced to do anything, so Grist wonders whether policies like car bans could actually be counterproductive?

January 12, 2026

Chicago Explores Black Perspectives on Public Transit

"We're not going to fix decades of inequitable investment in one year, and things like the high-frequency bus network and the Red Line Extension are really important, but the work isn't done."

January 9, 2026
See all posts