Transportation Emissions Increase in 14 States

Southern terminus at I-10 in Mobile. Photo by formulanone from Huntsville, United States, (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

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. Each 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.

Backlash to Doug Ford’s bike lane removal: Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford pledged to rip out bike lanes on major Toronto streets last month causing a major stir. The Toronto city council however is pushing back, vowing not to pay for any of the removals and voting to oppose the change 21 – 4. As local commentators have noted, asking cyclists to take the scenic route isn’t viable and believing taking out a few cycle lanes and expanding roads will fix traffic is folly. (Leyland Cecco | The Guardian)

Who pays for Alabama’s zombie highway?: A ring highway to be constructed near Birmingham Alabama will cost $5.4B and be covered 100% by earmarks of federal funding. The road isn’t seen as important for transportation purposes but rather economic development, opening up land for development on the outskirts of town. The project has almost died many times but was given new life in the 2022 infrastructure bill. There are more important priorities elsewhere in the state but the money must go to this project. (Dennis Pillion | Inside Climate News)

Spokane considers bike and mobility network: Spokane Washington is planning to build 27 mile low stress bike and walking network in the city. Funding and location aren’t set yet but city council will soon vote on moving the program forward that’s expected to cost around $6M. The design would include curb bump outs to slow speeding cars, medians that divert auto traffic away from slower streets, and crosswalks that stop traffic at arterials. (Lauren Pangborn | Range Media)

Emissions data states are hiding: A report by Environment America shares how fourteen states have increased transportation emissions even as fuel economy has improved and national emissions have been reduced. Several of the states were also part of a lawsuit that stopped a federal rule requiring them to self report emissions even as they weren’t required to reduce them. As the power sector gets cleaner, emissions reductions from transportation would be needed to meet policy maker’s climate goals. (Kea Wilson | Streetsblog USA)

The impacts of housing instability: Violinist Laura Bates has been feuding with a landlord who is trying to evict her from her Toronto apartment even as she has never had a problem paying the rent. Rising rents have been a problem for artists over the last several decades but the instability also has creative impacts as well. Laura’s struggles specifically have left her worn out, not able to practice before gigs, and feeling less creative. (Justin Norton | Decibel Magazine)

Quote of the Week

Advocates, academics, professionals, and entrepreneurs are not drawn to their work because they love the way things are. Rather, they see gaps, inefficiencies, or injustices in the status quo and dedicate themselves to addressing them. Their entire raison d’être is to push for change. That drive is what makes them effective at innovating, solving problems, and bringing about progress. People working in a field are selected for people wanting to make change in that field. The issue is, as suggested above, the median citizen doesn’t necessarily share that enthusiasm for change. Change, even for the better, is risky and disruptive.

-Professor David Levinson in his Transportist newsletter discussing why progress often outpaces public opinion.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re chatting with Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the Vision Zero Network.

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