Better Birmingham

10/15/2026

This is exactly the kind of rail investment Alabama needs, Congresswoman Sewell. Additional funding for rural rail infrastructure can strengthen communities, improve regional connections, and create the foundation for better passenger service. But investment in rail infrastructure also needs to be paired with enforcement of the laws that are supposed to make passenger rail reliable.

Federal law already requires passenger trains to receive preference over freight on shared tracks under 49 U.S.C. § 24308(c). The problem has been enforcement.

The DOJ’s 2024 lawsuit against Norfolk Southern is a perfect example. The government alleged that freight dispatching repeatedly delayed Amtrak’s Crescent, including cases where passenger trains were held while multiple freight trains passed. At the time, only 24% of southbound Crescent trains on Norfolk Southern-controlled track arrived on time.

After the case was settled in 2025, Norfolk Southern agreed to give Amtrak the highest priority, require supervisory approval when dispatchers do otherwise, train employees on passenger priority, and provide delay records to the DOJ. The result matters: Crescent delay minutes fell 53% from 2024 to 2025.

That is an urbanism issue as much as a legal one. Passenger rail cannot function as a serious alternative to driving and flying if a scheduled train can routinely be sidelined for freight. We can invest millions in tracks, stations, equipment, and rural rail infrastructure, but reliability is infrastructure too.

As Alabama continues receiving federal rail investment, I hope we also continue pushing for stronger enforcement of passenger rail priority so that the system we are building actually works for the people who depend on it.

10/01/2026

Birmingham has changed dramatically over the last fifteen years. Downtown has gained new apartments, restaurants, businesses, entertainment districts, parks, and reinvestment in places that once struggled to attract development. Neighborhoods across the city are evolving too, bringing more people, activity, and opportunity back into Birmingham’s urban core.

But development alone does not determine what kind of city Birmingham becomes.

Urbanism asks us to think about how that growth serves the people who actually live here. Are we building neighborhoods where someone can safely walk to the grocery store? Can a child bike to school? Can an older resident cross the street comfortably? Can someone without a car reliably get to work? Are we creating enough housing for people at different income levels? Are our streets places to move through, or places where community can actually exist?

As Birmingham continues to grow and redevelop, we have an opportunity to shape that investment around people. That means more housing, mixed-use neighborhoods, safer streets, better sidewalks, protected bicycle infrastructure, useful public transit, accessible public spaces, and development patterns that put everyday necessities closer to where people live.

The Birmingham of 2040 is being built right now. The question is not whether our city will change. It is how we choose to guide that change and who gets to benefit from it.

09/30/2026

The vision board from City of Birmingham Government's goBHM Transportation Town Hall last night

09/29/2026

Why the Rejection of Neighborhood Traffic Calming Requests Makes Little Sense.

Why the Rejection of Neighborhood Requests Make Little Sense

09/28/2026

City Council Agenda Summary for 9/28

Birmingham City Council Agenda Summary for the Week of 9/28/26

09/25/2026

26th Street is a great example of what happens when we rethink who our streets are designed to serve.

The street has been narrowed to make room for bike lanes on both sides, with plastic bollards and parked cars helping create separation between cyclists and moving traffic. A bike box gives riders a more visible position at the intersection, while improved crosswalks, flashing beacons, and warning signs encourage drivers to slow down and yield to people on foot.

That pedestrian infrastructure is especially important here because 26th Street runs alongside a retirement community, where residents may need more time and greater protection when crossing.

And none of this required widening the street or finding more space. It simply required using the space we already have differently.

Cars can still move through the neighborhood, but now the street also makes room for people walking, biking, crossing, and living here.

This is what it looks like when a street becomes more than a place to move cars. It becomes part of the neighborhood.

09/21/2026