Today's Headlines

Monday’s Headlines

There are an estimated two billion parking spaces in the United States. Cities should be converting them into sidewalks, bike lanes, pickup/drop-off zones or even new housing. (Green Biz) Most drivers would teleport to work if they could, but people who walk or bike would still walk or bike (State Smart Transportation Initiative). Related: Traffic … Continued

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EST on February 17, 2020

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There are an estimated two billion parking spaces in the United States. Cities should be converting them into sidewalks, bike lanes, pickup/drop-off zones or even new housing. (Green Biz)
Most drivers would teleport to work if they could, but people who walk or bike would still walk or bike (State Smart Transportation Initiative). Related: Traffic in Atlanta is so bad that 40 percent of commuters work from home at least one day a week. Only 9 percent take a bus or a train, though, with most who don’t giving the puzzling response that it takes too long (AJC). Here’s a reminder that “Star Trek” might be science fiction, but MARTA is very much real.
The New York Post‘s legendary anti-bike old man Steve Cuozzo shook his fist at another cloud, this time claiming that a President Mike Bloomberg would “kill America’s car culture” (like that’s a bad thing). For the record, Streetsblog’s Kea Wilson doesn’t believe Bloomberg would actually do this.
The Los Angeles Times takes a deep dive into San Francisco’s decision to close Market Street to cars, as well as other cities like New York, where similar restrictions were put into place.
Why is Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pushing the CTA’s expensive Red Line when Metra can serve the South Side more efficiently? The Chicago Tribune says Lightfoot is worried about “scaring off” suburban customers, but that sounds like a dog whistle.
No wonder Utah is considering new rules for vanity plates. “DEPORTM”? Really? (Salt Lake Tribune)
Dallas light rail is incredibly inefficient, and the city could do better if it pulled out of the regional transit agency. DART seems mostly interested in getting people to the airport and suburban mega-developments and is spending a lot of money to do so, but ridership is less than half that of Phoenix or Houston. (D Magazine)
King County, Washington is considering offering free transit passes to low-income residents. Problem is, Sound Transit might not participate, and many of King County Metro’s bus riders also use Sound Transit’s light rail. (Seattle Times)
Bay Area Rapid Transit is hoping that doubling its absurdly cheap $3-a-day parking rate will convince more people to walk, carpool or take a bus to train stations. (East Bay Times)
Atlanta is strewn with surface parking lots that ought to be redeveloped, but even a little landscaping can make them friendlier to pedestrians. Enter the Midtown Alliance. (Curbed)
The Portland City Council has approved the Rose Lane plan creating numerous bus lanes (KATU). But buslash is in full effect in Indianapolis, where residents are debating the Purple Line, the city’s second bus rapid transit route (Indy Channel).
Walk Bike Nashville delivered 2,000 signatures to Mayor John Cooper’s office in support of protected bike lanes downtown. (Tennessean)
It’s 2020, and Virginia is still talking about whether to ban drivers from using cellphones. (Greater Greater Washington)
A Long Beach driver went all Dukes of Hazzard after running into a traffic circle. A must-watch. (CBS Local)
And, finally, obviously Bill Kristol has never ridden the Moscow subway system because say what you will about Bernie Sanders, but he is 100 percent right about the Moscow subway system.

Bernie Sanders very impressed by the chandeliers in the Moscow subway stations and by the Soviet “palaces of culture.” (Really.) https://t.co/a2RhLAZUyT
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 16, 2020

Blake Aued

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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