Automakers Paid Tesla to Make Electric Vehicles

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. At the end of the week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

People missing opportunities to reduce emissions: When asked what they can do to reduce emissions, people generally give answers that are good at the margins but might not have a large impact. While the answers they give aren’t unimportant, actions such as having one less car or not making a long distance flight have a bigger impact than eating organic food or changing light bulbs. It’s not that people aren’t smart, it’s that the biggest impacts aren’t intuitive argues Matt Reynolds. (Matt Reynolds | Wired Magazine)

Winnipeg’s potential transit turnaround: Winnipeg, the Canadian city of about 750,000 north of Fargo North Dakota has seen a drop in transit ridership similar to other North American Cities. But it’s hoped the 2025 Transit Master Plan approved by the city in 2021 will remedy many of the issues the transit system is facing. The Master Plan will improve service, modernize the network structure and build new bus lanes downtown. (Dan Lett | The Free Press)

Automakers paid Tesla to make EVs: Automakers have given Tesla $8B while continuing to build internal combustion vehicles and falling behind on electric vehicles. This is because regulators in states like California have tried to promote zero emissions vehicles through credit schemes. As companies were out of compliance, they purchased credits from companies like Tesla which built zero emission vehicles. It’s a lot of money that Tony Dutzik notes many of those companies might wish they had back for EV development. (Tony Dutzik | The Frontier Group)

Edmonton downtown getting back on track: More and more people are coming back to Edmonton Canada’s downtown after a slow period precipitated by the pandemic. Downtown representatives note that restaurants are busy again and more people are making their way into the core for purposes other than work. The key they believe is increased perceptions of safety but more resources are needed for homelessness as well. (Edmonton Journal)

Embracing manufactured housing: In the 1970’s congress passed building code regulations for manufactured homes which makes them cheaper and more affordable to mass produce than modular housing or custom built homes. Some cities around the country are taking advantage of this to allow the construction of lower cost homes for first time buyers. While the stigma still remains for “mobile homes”, builders are able to convince local officials and buyers that the quality has improved which can reduce opposition. (Adele Peters | Fast Company)

Quote of the Week

With ridership still below pre-pandemic levels in many US cities, such transit-oriented development isn’t just important for housing affordability — it could also lock in many hundreds of thousands of new riders, bailing out cash-strapped transit agencies.

–M. Nolan Gray in Bloomberg CityLab discussing a new bill that would make development near transit score higher on transit project evaluations.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we’re joined by Ron Brooks of Accessible Avenue to talk about service animal etiquette, the negotiation and implementation of ADA, and including people with disabilities in the equity conversation.

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