Thursday’s Headlines Need to Cool Down

• In this deadly heat wave, cooling centers set up by cities often go unused because people who don’t have cars or access to transit can’t get there. (The Grist)
• A carbon tax that makes pollution less profitable for corporations would be more fair and effective than putting the onus on consumers. (Fast Company)
• The argument for two-way streets being safer grows even stronger when considering that any gains drivers make in speed on one-way streets are mostly offset by traveling farther. (Transfers Magazine)
• Despite his mercurial nature and willingness to put profits above the national interest, Elon Musk has become a de facto cabinet secretary without portfolio whose permission is needed from the federal government to proceed on anything from the war in Ukraine to space travel. (New Yorker)
• A California proposal to raise bridge tolls to fund mass transit is now on hold. (CBS News, Streetsblog CAL)
• The Los Angeles mayor’s office only learned about the widely ridiculed — though at least cheap and somewhat effective — La Sombrita bus shelter from a press release, reinforcing how important communication is within city governments (L.A. Public Press)
• Meanwhile, Houston is working on a sturdier bus shelter with solar-powered panels to keep waiting passengers cool. (Chronicle)
• Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a bill setting a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers. (Minnesota Reformer)
• An influential Colorado state senator is working on a bill to boost funding for transit. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Raleigh banned new drive-throughs along bus rapid transit corridors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from idling cars. (WRAL)
• Milwaukee’s Lakefront streetcar extension opens Oct. 29 (Urban Milwaukee).
• Development around Seattle’s Capitol Hill light rail station lacks enough density, public space or a daycare center nearby residents demanded. (The Urbanist)
• Pressure to charge for the Tampa streetcar apparently stems from St. Pete Beach residents who want homeless people to stay out of their quiet beach community. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Crediting Streetsblog with inventing the term, Baltimore residents are starting to talk about developing the “parking crater” around the Camden Yards baseball stadium. (Fishbowl)
• Dressed as referees, Toronto residents handed out yellow cards to illegally parked drivers during the Women’s World Cup. (Momentum Mag)

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