Monday’s Headlines Have Been Loving Amtrak Too Long to Stop Now
Why slash federal funding for rail in half at a time when Amtrak is more successful than it's ever been?
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 31, 2026
- Amtrak has seen record ridership for two years in a row, carrying almost 24 million passengers in fiscal 2026. This is largely the result of a $22 billion investment in tracks, tunnels, stations and new trains through the Biden administration’s infrastructure law. New service on the Gulf Coast and in the Midwest has been successful. All of this means that congressional Republicans would be shortsighted to cut funding for passenger rail now. (Frontier Group)
- Climate change causes extreme heat that can damage overhead wires and warp train tracks, as well as floods that wash away tracks and inundate subways. (The Conversation)
- Motorists in states that voted for Donald Trump are feeling the most pain at the pump from the Iran War. (NOTUS)
- Even though Tesla’s Autopilot feature isn’t truly autonomous, more and more Tesla drivers are deciding to take a nap behind the wheel. (NBC News; paywall)
- People in the Sun Belt are spending way too much money on cars, according to WalletHub. In one Texas town, the median auto debt is almost equivalent to a year’s salary. Americans’ total debt from auto loans now stands at $1.7 trillion.
- The Nashville Scene goes inside the city’s Vision Zero process as it works to reverse a years-long trend of rising traffic deaths.
- A budget shortfall is leading the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to reconsider plans for autonomous shuttle buses. (Daily Record)
- A new Illinois law requires the owners of high-speed e-bikes to have a driver’s license and insurance, and to register the vehicle like a car. (NBC Chicago)
- A year after putting Hemphill Street on a road diet, Fort Worth is removing bike lanes and returning it to five car lanes. (Star-Telegram)
- I-37 split San Antonio’s Eastside and downtown in the 1960s, and now residents are thinking about how to reconnect them. (Report)
- An anti-bike Washington, D.C. official was arrested stemming from an altercation with a constituent over a bike lane project. (Reddit)
- Seattle is stepping up Vision Zero efforts as the goal of ending traffic deaths by 2030 approaches. (KUOW)
- The new Crosslake Connection in Seattle is helping University of Washington students get to class. (The Daily)
- Omaha unveiled new renderings and a name, Oscar, for the streetcar currently under construction. (WOWT)
- One big question about driverless cars has been, if they get a ticket, who pays it? China is considering a law assigning responsibility for autonomous vehicles’ traffic infractions to the manufacturer or importer. (China Daily)
- Brazil has developed a plan to improve its transit system, which has been stagnant for decades. (Transport Matters)
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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