Issues & Insights

Climate United announced a plan to spend up to $250 million to buy as many as 500 electric semitrucks over three years in what it called the biggest single order of those zero-emission trucks in the country so far.

Under the proposed rules, more than 280,000 new electric or hydrogen motorcycles would be sold in California by 2045 — about eight times more than the total on its roads now. Electric motorcycles make up only 1% of current motorcycle sales.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill that will let the city install the red-light cameras at up to 600 intersections, up from the current 150. The governor pointed to city data showing that violations at intersections equipped with red-light cameras fell 73% since the cameras were first installed 30 years ago.

Starting in January, owners of electric vehicles that are registered in Vermont will have to pay an additional $89 for a one-year registration and $163 for two years. Plug-in electric hybrid vehicles will pay $44.50 for a one-year registration and $81.50 for two years. The fees are in addition to the current annual vehicle registration fee.

The plan doesn’t go as far as some other cities’ efforts to remove highways entirely -- or build parks on top of them. But the LINC promises to remove a whole lot of asphalt to make room for people.

Concepts were published in a 154-page report by the Department of Transportation, which was the product of two years of public outreach. They include converting space into a hub where delivery workers can charge e-bike batteries and redesign of a dizzying intersection to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists and less confusing for drivers.

The danger posed by wildlife crossing New Jersey’s busy roads and highways has increased enormously with the rise in animal and human populations. But a back-and-forth discussion begun years ago between state safety officials and biologists has produced a host of over-and-under solutions, using elevated walkways and tunnels.

Conflicts are often about minute infrastructure changes like that — the sort of design changes that barely register as design, but always require taking space from cars. Shade trees, narrowed lanes, and shorter crosswalks often play into these “road diets.”

Users can rent an e-bike for the day and return it to the same location to charge. That means that a user can ride to work, stop by the grocery store and visit friends before docking the bike – unlike with traditional bike-share, where bikes are docked at the end of each trip.

Among the trillions of dollars approved by Congress to keep the economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic were about $70 billion for the country’s public transit systems.