Tuesday’s Headlines Are a Speed Trap
There's a downside to enforcing traffic laws when cities do it to raise revenue rather than to save lives.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on September 22, 2026
- Enforcing traffic laws is all well and good, but when cities rely on ticket revenue to fill the government’s coffers, it erodes trust in police and takes away resources from preventing or solving other crimes. (Governing)
- A rail consultant says that a national railroad infrastructure bank could bring together federal, state and private sector resources to build high-speed rail. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Planner Mark R. Brown argues that most public hearings about transportation are unnecessary or even downright counterproductive — a relic of bad decisions in the 1960s that now allow a vocal minority to kill good projects. (Car Free America)
- One upside of robotaxis is that they would make it a lot easier to implement congestion pricing. (Government Technology)
- Oregon is nowhere near meeting its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the Trump administration’s transportation policies and uncertain funding at the state level. (Capital Chronicle)
- WTSP pinpointed Tampa’s 10 deadliest roads.
- Jacksonville’s Skyway monorail is nearing the end of its useful life. What should replace it? (The Jaxson)
- Complete Streets improvements to Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr. Drive both reduced crashes and improved travel times. (NACTO)
- Crime dropped by two-thirds and revenue rose by $10 million a year after Bay Area Rapid Transit upgraded fare gates at train stations. (Mass Transit)
- Pittsburgh has started turning downtown’s Smithfield Street into a pedestrian-friendly corridor. (Post-Gazette)
- WUGA interviewed Athens, Georgia’s Vision Zero coordinator about the city’s new safety action plan.
- The Kansas City streetcar will turn into a rolling platform for live music, poetry and public art on Wednesday. (KCTV)
- The Doobie Brothers’ 1974 hit “Black Water” was written on a New Orleans streetcar. (Yahoo)
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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