• A “united front” is forming behind the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill, as Sec. LaHood and Rep. Oberstar have overcome their differences and collectively disdain the “cost-effectiveness index” that used to govern transportation policy. (Finance & Commerce)
• With indefatigable strength, Oakland’s MTC board members will push through their plan for the Airport Connector, despite their own admission that the project is “stupid” and “crappy.” (SF Weekly)
• Reliance on urban green spaces as carbon sinks may be misguided, as a new study indicates that the materials that go into maintaining city lawns produce more emissions than the spaces absorb. (Dot Earth)
• After 9/11, New York’s MTA said it would install surveillance cameras and other security measures across its systems; nearly ten years later, it has no way to pay for the $833 million project. Apparently 8,700 tickets issued to people hogging more than one seat on the subway wasn’t enough! (City Room)
• To those of you who ride CTA in Chicago: Sorry, guys. You have less than two weeks left of a functional transit system. (NBC Chicago)
• Communities built to accomodate only a single mode of transportation are myopic, says a design expert, and designing good, multi-modal infrastructure is like designing a user interface: deliberate, unobtrusive, appropriately timed. (GOOD)