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Tuesday’s Headlines Have Their Heads in the Sand

A recent conference showed that the mainstream transportation community is still unwilling to reckon with the need to get people out of their cars.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on January 31, 2023

Tuesday’s Headlines Have Their Heads in the Sand

Photo: Transportation Alternatives

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At a recent transportation conference attended by many engineers, planners, businesspeople and policymakers, most presenters refused to acknowledge the reality that a system where 90 percent of people driving personal vehicles will never be efficient or clean. (Transportation for America)
Transit agencies should better serve women, but referring to them as “vulnerable users” still centers the male experience. (Eltis)
Still suffering from high vacancy rates at downtown office buildings, Bay Area Rapid Transit is counting on a future ballot measure to provide funding and avoid drastic service cuts once federal pandemic dollars run out. (CBS News)
The Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s CEO dashed hopes for a Roosevelt Boulevard subway line, saying it’s just too expensive. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
A Hillsborough County, Florida, transportation board nixed the idea of even studying whether to tear down part of I-275. (Tampa Bay Times)
The details have yet to be worked out, but Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers in both parties say they want to push forward traffic safety legislation. (The Chronicle)
The Cincinnati city council approved phase two of the Central Parkway protected bike lane project. (WCPO)
Bus rapid transit is a better option for the circular Atlanta Beltline than light rail, opines a Georgia Tech professor. (Saporta Report)
Syracuse’s mayor belatedly announced a Vision Zero initiative, four years after one council member first proposed it. (Post-Standard)
Omaha launched a new website with information about a proposed downtown streetcar. (Nebraska Examiner)
Snowplows piled up a mountain of snow on a St. Paul sidewalk, so these folks dug a tunnel. (Star Tribune)

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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