Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

• Almost 20 million children ride to school each day on diesel buses, which are bad for the environment and for their health. The Biden administration’s $5 billion investment in electric buses is a start toward changing that, but not enough. (e360)
• As the climate grows hotter, schools are planting more trees and created more shaded spaces. Unfortunately, that often involves tearing up paved athletic courts and playgrounds. (Washington Post)
• Car loans have passed student loans to become the second-highest source of debt in the U.S. (Jalopnik)
• How walkable is your neighborhood? This Bloomberg interactive map will show you.
• If we’re going to have parking lots, might as well put solar panels on top of them. (Clean Technica)
• St. Louis is investing a remarkable $300 million into street safety, primarily due to the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, but is it too little, too late? (Streetsblog USA)
• The Denver city council finalized a $150 annual for most property owners to pay for sidewalk construction and upkeep. (Denverite)
• New Denver legislation intends to keep gas stations from taking up space that could be occupied by transit-friendly housing. (Colorado Sun)
• Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s antipathy toward bike infrastructure and safety improvements in general seems to have originated with a bureaucratic slight involving his own neighborhood. (Chron)
• A Baltimore nonprofit is teaching teenagers how to repair bikes. (WYPR)
• Madrid is looking at trying to reduce traffic and pollution by using its transit system to deliver packages during off-peak hours. (Global Railway Review)
• Plans have been revealed for a new tram across Cardiff. (BBC)
• High-speed rail could finally come to Australia in the 2030s. (The Conversation)

source https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/09/18/wednesdays-headlines-are-for-the-children