A street lamp at sunset by AmadeoDM licensed under Creative Commons.

Why streetlights are turning purple. How walking helps us think. Repurposing federal highway money for transit.

Why are some streetlights turning purple?: Hundreds of LED streetlights across the US and abroad have been turning purple, worrying residents and city officials alike about how the lights went from white light to a more Halloween vibe. Part of the problem was the manufacturing process in which defects don’t show up until years after the lights are made. To make white light, LEDs are sheathed in a glass ceramic covering, but the light turns purple when it wears out. (Adam Rogers | Business Insider)

Why walking helps us think: When humans walk, their body chemistry changes. The heart pumps faster and oxygen is circulated more quickly to the brain. And walking doesn’t need much conscious effort, leaving our brains open to ruminating on other things. But walking alone is not enough — where we walk matters. Where an urban walk can be overstimulating, a nature walk can provide serenity. (Ferris Jabr | The New Yorker)

Flexing federal highway money for transit: A report from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program discusses how many states are flexing highway funding for transit use. Between 2013 and 2020 states flexed only 4% of their funds. Eight states flex more than 4% of their funds, with New Jersey flexing 15%. But ultimately it comes down to state priorities as the deciding factor for whether they use existing highway funds for transit purposes. (TransitCenter)

How urban design in Qatar kicks the “climate can” down the road: Lusail, Qatar, home to the World Cup Final in a few weeks, was built in a region that will be uninhabitable to humans by 2070. In a country with the world’s highest per-capita carbon emissions, Lusail is a fishbowl seeking to wow people — but the stones at the bottom hide what’s underneath. (Barney Ronay | The Guardian)

Quote of the Week

“Boring’s speed claims are “totally unrealistic.” There’ll be improvements here, for sure, but there’s not going to be a revolution.”

Lok Home, president of the Robbins Co., a leading maker of tunnel-boring machines in the Wall Street Journal on the Boring Company’s overly optimistic claims.

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Northern California Director for High Speed Rail Boris Lipkin and Streetsblog San Francisco Editor Roger Rudick to talk about high speed rail’s progress in California.