Thursday’s Headlines

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on January 17, 2019

Pedestrian deaths doubled in San Diego in 2018, from 17 to 34. (Union-Tribune) Charlotte drivers have already killed three people on foot this year, and the city’s Vision Zero director is recommending using cameras to catch speeders. Almost half of crashes involve speeding. (WBTV) It's even worse in Washington, D.C., where 55 percent of fatal crashes were caused by speeding. But most people don't care because they value time over lives, according to a Governor's Highway Safety Association report. Many states have essentially given up, raising speed limits as high as 85 miles per hour. (Post)
When Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan killed the Red Line in Baltimore, he pledged $135 million to revamp the city’s bus system instead. The results have been less than stellar: Poorly enforced and maintained bus lanes, mixed on-time performance and, as a result, flat ridership. (City Lab)
Next City proposes that transit should be free during the traffic nightmare that is the Seattle Squeeze. It's not, but crowds are showing up early to catch trains and buses anyway, according to KUOW. One woman's new car-free commute, including 10 miles on a bike, was documented by Q13. Bike commutes like hers are rising in the wake of "Viadoom," the Alaskan Way Viaduct's closure, Curbed reports.
Average daily rides on Milwaukee's The Hop streetcar rose in its second month of operation, but as the Milwaukee Record points out, people are going to complain about it anyway. A streetcar skeptic debates city leaders on whether it's been successful on an OnMilwaukee podcast.
Meanwhile, Sacramento's proposed streetcar suffered a major setback when the low bid came in $76 million over budget. (Bee)
The Phoenix New Times rode trains with a bunch of people wearing no pants and lived to tell the tale. Yes, there's a slideshow.
And New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went on "The View" (below) to talk about his national agenda, but ended up getting grilled on bike lanes in a fact-free fashion by Whoopi "Drives in From New Jersey" Goldberg. (NY Daily News).

Blake Aued

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