Friday’s Headlines Are Stuck in Traffic
The afternoon rush hour is back and longer than ever. Plus, news about climate change, slow streets, high-speed rail and more.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 27, 2021
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- Pre-pandemic traffic is back, and now every hour is rush hour. (City Lab)
- Transportation accounts for 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, the majority from personal vehicles. To prevent climate change, people need to drive less. More density, congestion pricing and redesigning streets can get people out of their cars. (RMI)
- Grist interviews author Tom Standage, whose new book “A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next” shows that an auto-dominated society is not inevitable.
- With transportation being the largest source of greenhouse gases, it’s time for the U.S. to get onboard with high-speed rail. (Greenbiz)
- Cities that turned street space over to people during the pandemic are now, unfortunately, giving it back to cars. (Quartz)
- Transit ridership is recovering, but some riders say they’ll drive more in the future, often because the nearest stop is too far away from their home. (TransLoc)
- Commuter rail ridership dropped the most during the pandemic, and systems are lowering fares and integrating with other services to draw more riders. (Government Technology)
- Funding for bike lanes and trails and bike-share stations creates jobs. (Streetsblog USA)
- Transit Center says the U.S. DOT should set standards and metrics for equity.
- Uber and Lyft’s survival depends on their ability to exploit drivers. (San Francisco Examiner)
- The Houston Metro is moving forward with plans for bus rapid transit lines despite the loss of revenue during the pandemic. (Chronicle)
- Charlotte’s new streetcar is scheduled to open Monday, just a day before a federal deadline. (WSOC)
- Wayne State University in Detroit is subsidizing free bus, streetcar and bike-share passes for students, faculty and staff.
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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