If public transit suffers long-term consequences from the coronavirus, as many experts predict, telecommuting could be a key tool in reducing pollution and congestion, but it creates problems of its own and its effects aren't entirely clear.

A post by the Transportation Research Board gathers recent and historic studies on the effects of telecommuting for indications about how the post-COVID world might change if the shift toward working from home stick around for months, years, or indefinitely into the future. But telecommuting creates problems of its own, and research conducted to date, admittedly conducted in conditions short of the kind of wholesale changes inspired by the pandemic, hasn't shown telecommuting to be the kind of slam dunk many might hope it to be.
For instance, research from the 1990s made the case for telecommuting as "an ideal way to mitigate traffic congestion and improve air quality." But another study, completed 20 years later, "showed that regular teleworkers used time and money saved to either take trips they couldn’t during a normal work commute or move farther from the offices they were visiting less frequently."
Then there are the funding problems created when transportation revenues are tied to gas taxes. "Before much of the white-collar workforce began teleworking in mid-to-late March, the Congressional Budget Office had already estimated the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund would be exhausted in 2021 and the Highway Account by 2022. States have been thinking outside the pump in terms of how their transportation revenue can be maintained."
FULL STORY: Telework transportation research in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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