Monday’s Headlines Are Rockin’ the Casbah

The king called up his jet fighters, said "you better earn your pay." But now Sharif don't like $100-a-barrel oil prices.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on March 9, 2026

Paul Lowry, CC

President Trump started a war in the Persian Gulf and is now freaking out that gas prices are rising (Politico). We're all trying to find the guy who did this.
A new bill from Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah would reign in highway spending while also, perhaps incidentally, reducing tailpipe emissions by limiting highway spending to whatever gas tax revenue comes into the highway trust fund. Unfortunately, it would also scale back transit funding. (Transportation for America)
U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have introduced a bill requiring railroad companies to use both automated and human inspections to reduce derailments. (Transportation Today)
Even if driverless cars are safer than those driven by humans on a miles-driven basis, they will end up wind up just deadheading around cities empty and increase VMT (Vox; paywall; also Streetsblog). The National Association of City Transportation Officials has a white paper to help planners deal with autonomous vehicles.
Uber and Lyft users are cutting back on rides as prices increase. (Entrepreneur)
Streetsblog is generally not in favor of more parking, but if it helps long-haul truckers get enough sleep to drive safely, it sounds like a good idea. (USA Today)
Congressional Republicans have latched onto speed cameras in Washington, D.C. as more enragement fodder for Fox News. (Washingtonian)
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie was on hand to kick off a campaign to convince voters to fund transit agency Muni. (Examiner)
Portland's traffic deaths have finally fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, at least. (BikePortland, Oregonian)
Denver, on the other hand, set a record of 93 people killed by drivers last year. (Denverite)
After 16 years, a new bike lane on Juniper Street in Midtown Atlanta has finally opened. (11Alive)
With strong bikeshare ridership numbers in St. Petersburg, the city council has approved new e-bike parking. (Catalyst)
Braddock Road in Alexandria, Virginia, is getting bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements. (WTOP)
Columbia, South Carolina is on its way to becoming a bike-friendly city. (Carolina News and Reporter)
A petition drive calls for Davis, California to commemorate the nation's first bike lane, built 60 years ago. (Sacramento Bee)