An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Thursday’s Headlines
There's so much the U.S. could have done to insulate residents from spiraling gas prices, other than suspend taxes.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on March 26, 2026
- A broad system of electrified public transportation would insulate the U.S. from the effects of rising fuel costs due to the war on Iran (Next Metro). Similarly, widespread adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles would help prevent the economic shock of the oil embargo in the 1970s (The Driven). Gas tax holidays, however, lead to higher inflation and don’t provide consumers with relief in the long run (Real Economy Blog).
- Under an upcoming transportation funding bill, the U.S. DOT wants to focus on building fewer projects faster. Unfortunately, most of those projects are likely to be of the highway variety. (Transport Topics)
- A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily unfreeze $3 billion in grants for Chicago passenger rail projects. (Reuters)
- New Jersey’s new Portal North Bridge has already increased train speeds by 50 percent. So why is the Trump administration hell-bent on holding up the rest of the Gateway Project? (The American Prospect)
- Queens residents are split on whether an abandoned railroad should be turned into a trail or a subway line. Why not both? Well, it’s behind several other transit projects for funding, whereas money for greenspace is available now. (New York Times)
- In related news, it’s been shown that trails contribute to better physical and mental health, but a new Harvard study found that building trails increases property values — which could be considered building wealth in previously disinvested neighborhoods or gentrification, depending on how you look at.
- Post-COVID, time spent stuck in traffic set a new high in Houston last year while rising in San Antonio, but remains lower in Austin and Dallas. (Axios)
- D.C. leaders seemed to thwart any chance for the soon-to-be-shuttered streetcar’s success at every turn. (Greater Greater Washington)
- Milwaukee state legislators are renewing a push to allow cities to use cameras to cite reckless drivers. (Wisconsin Examiner)
- Two Lyft passengers recount a crash that killed a San Antonio sign spinner and mother of four. (KENS 5)
- A plan for a now-closed Akron freeway calls for new housing, greenspace and pedestrian-friendly surface streets, but the city lacks the funding to do anything but some minimal sprucing-up. (Signal)
- Two-way streets are generally considered safer than one-way, but some Indianapolis residents are wary of the conversion. (Mirror Indy)
- Some Toledo residents would rather save trees’ lives than schoolchildren’s. (WTOL)
- Athens, Georgia county commissioners are poised to strengthen their commitment to Vision Zero. (Flagpole)
- Outgoing Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is known for embracing bikes, green spaces and the 15-minute city (Bloomberg). Her newly elected successor, fellow socialist Emmanuel Gregoire, is expected to continue those policies, although the far right took control of some other French cities (PBS).
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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