Friday’s Headlines Are Shockingly Expensive
- Two of the three most expensive highway projects in the U.S. — the Rose Quarter widening and Interstate Bridge Project — are in Portland. Along with rebuilding the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, they cost more than $2 billion per mile. Others include projects in New Jersey, Louisiana, Washington, California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Connecticut. (City Observatory)
- Lifted pickups an rampant speed racing are signs of the MAGA-fication of roadways, (The Guardian).
- About 40 bikeshare trips take the equivalent of one car’s worth of pollution out of the atmosphere, according to a study by Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University.
- Andrew Miller says that transit agencies haven’t adjusted to shifting post-COVID travel patterns; they should be adding service for popular weekend events like sports games and concerts, and focusing less on rush-hour commutes, which never came all the way back. (Changing Lanes)
- The Environmental Defense Fund shares lessons from the successful fight for congestion pricing in Manhattan.
- Florida passenger rail company Brightline is preparing to enter bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)
- Facing deficits topping $100 million, San Diego could eliminate a third of its bus routes and cut service on another third. (Union-Tribune)
- After pulling his support for light rail on the Atlanta Beltline, Mayor Andre Dickens now says he’ll release a funding plan by the end of the year. (Saporta Report)
- Charlotte is growing fast, but it’s still not acting like a big city in terms of transportation infrastructure. (Ledger)
- Despite a complete streets project on Park Avenue in Memphis, residents say it’s still too dangerous to walk on. (Fox 13)
- Sound Transit opened a new light rail station five years ahead of schedule. (KIRO)
- Tampa is offering free concerts on the TECO streetcar every fourth Friday through May. (Creative Loafing)
- Ithaca and hundreds of other cities organize “porch fest” music festivals in walkable neighborhoods. (CNU Public Square)
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