Thursday’s Headlines

“Are e-scooters a flash in the pan?” Mobility Lab asks. Probably not. There are some kinks to work out, but they have great potential to get people out of cars for short trips.

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• Houston will ask voters next year to spend $3 billion over the next 20 years on transportation projects, including 20 miles of light rail, 75 miles of bus rapid transit and 110 miles of freeway HOV lanes. (Chronicle) Over in Austin, Cap Metro has an ambitious expansion plan that transit advocates hope will be more successful than a failed 2014 rail bond referendum. (American-Statesman)
• Virginia Beach voters rejected light rail two years ago, so the Virginian-Pilot suggests that not only should no one should ever speak of it again, but anyone who doesn’t like it should move.
• The Pennsylvania DOT has authorized Uber to start testing self-driving cars again, nine months after an autonomous vehicle killed a woman crossing the street in Arizona. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Meanwhile, controversial former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski claims he rode a self-driving Prius cross-country in October. (The Verge)
• Uber, which acquired bike-share Jump earlier this year, has designed the first bike specifically built for sharing and the wear-and-tear that entails. (Fast Company)
• Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin has hired a former Washington, D.C. transportation planner as the city’s new DOT director. Sam Zimbabwe guided Vision Zero efforts in D.C. and lobbied for congestion pricing. He’ll have to deal with severe bottlenecks in Seattle as several construction projects converge. (Curbed)
• A $26-million federal grant will help Cincinnati replace 70 buses in its aging fleet. (WCPO)
• Everyone is dunking on Elon Musk’s L.A. tunnel, including Streetsblog.