Issues & Insights

EV charger deserts continued to vanish in the second quarter, as a motley array of networks switched on 704 new, public fast-charging stations, an increase of 9% in three months. There are now nearly 9,000 public, fast-charging sites in the US.

The proposal includes digging a 16-mile tunnel beneath the Long Island Sound between Port Jefferson and Milford, Connecticut. The concept — which is the brainchild of a group called the Northeast High Speed Rail Coalition — would reduce the Amtrak trip between Manhattan and Boston from four hours to just 100 minutes.

Pedestrian deaths declined modestly after reaching a 40-year high in 2022. Cities all over the country are trying to bring the numbers down further. And they’re getting an influx of billions in federal infrastructure funding, much of it through a program called Safe Streets and Roads for All.

By the time Gov. Kathy Hochul made the abrupt decision to cancel congestion pricing in New York City last month, transit leaders had already allocated more than a half a billion dollars to get the long-awaited tolling program off the ground. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority entered into a $556 million contract for cameras, software and other tools that would have been used to detect vehicles entering the planned tolling zone south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

For all the discussion of the many extraordinary ways algorithms have changed our society and our lives, one of the most impactful, and most infuriating, often escapes notice. Dominated by a couple of enormously powerful tech monopolists that have better things to worry about, our leading online mapping systems from Google and Apple are not nearly as good as they could be.

The Amtrak Borealis, a new rail line connecting Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, has only been operating for about a month, but already thousands of passengers have taken the trip. That ridership has exceeded Amtrak’s expectations—and hints at the growing desire among Americans to travel by train.

In 2022, Colorado became the first state with a retail delivery fee of 29 cents on all vehicle deliveries to consumers within the state. The fee provides funding for highways, bridges, tunnels, electric vehicle charging stations and projects to reduce air pollution and to electrify vehicle fleets and transit systems. It has brought in more than $160 million.

Travelers dropping off or picking up their cars at JFK’s Parking Lot 9 — an enormous long-term parking lot connected to the AirTrain's Lefferts Boulevard and Howard Beach stations — will be able to hop on the two eight-passenger shuttles at any of the same more than 12 stops serviced by human-driven ones.

Since Europe is far ahead in e-bike adoption, its experience offers lessons about how North America could catalyze uptake — as well as advanced warning about headaches that can arise when such vehicles become ubiquitous.

The state created an $89 annual fee on registered EVs, with revenue that would go to help finance new charging stations at workplaces and multifamily apartment buildings.