Monday’s Headlines Need Housing, Not Parking

• New York is the only U.S. city with more housing units that parking spaces. In Des Moines, the ratio is 20 parking spots for every place where people live. Many city centers, like Arlington and Detroit’s, are more than a third parking lots. (Atlas Obscura)
• $631 million in Biden administration grants will help DOTs in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maryland purchase 300 new rail cars. (MSN)
• Transportation options from airports to transit to walking and biking should work together seamlessly instead of being silo’d, experts said at a recent conference. (Government Technology)
• Minneapolis researchers believe that autonomous vehicles could help solve transit’s last-mile problem. (Crossroads)
• In Mayor John Whitmire’s latest assault on transportation alternatives, the Houston Metro is getting rid of its successful red-painted bus lanes because they cost too much to maintain. (Chronicle)
• Elections have consequences, part 2: New city council members in the Florida town of Clearwater who put anti-bike lane propaganda over facts from the state DOT are poised to kill a bike lane project the previous council approved. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Seattle released a $162 million Vision Zero plan right after new statistics showed that Washington state’s traffic deaths rose to their highest level in 33 years. (KUOW)
• Three Indianapolis city councilmen wrote an op-ed in the Star in favor of Vision Zero.
• Hundreds of Philadelphia cyclists gathered to honor the 14 people drivers killed while biking in the past year, and to push for more safety funding. (6 ABC)
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro road a Philadelphia commuter train to highlight his push for more transit funding. (CBS News)
• The organization that runs the Detroit People Mover has serious financial irregularities, according to a city audit. (Michigan Capitol Confidential)
• Advocacy group U.S. PIRG declared 2024 the “year of transit” in Colorado after Gov. Jared Polis signed three bills expanding bus and rail.
• D.C. Metro CEO Randy Clarke is proving what many transit advocates have long said — that ridership will improve when transit agencies provide better service. (Route Fifty)
• The Phoenix City Council is considering a new plan to extend light rail into the western part of the city. (Fronteras Desk)
• Boston plans to install 10 miles of new bike lanes this year. (WCVB)
• This is the e-cargo bike version of a tractor-trailer. (Electrek)

source https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/05/20/mondays-headlines-need-housing-not-parking