Monday’s Headlines
The federal shutdown is costing the D.C. Metro 16 percent of its rail ridership, 8 percent of its bus ridership and $400,000 in revenue per day as thousands of employees stay home rather than commute to work. Metro may have to consider service cuts, the agency told Virginia and Maryland senators. (Curbed) Virginia is giving … Continued
By
Blake Aued
12:18 AM EST on January 21, 2019
- The federal shutdown is costing the D.C. Metro 16 percent of its rail ridership, 8 percent of its bus ridership and $400,000 in revenue per day as thousands of employees stay home rather than commute to work. Metro may have to consider service cuts, the agency told Virginia and Maryland senators. (Curbed) Virginia is giving Metro a cash advance to bridge the gap. (WTOP)
- In West Seattle, Viadoom hasn’t been as bad as expected because so many people were willing to switch modes when a busy viaduct closed last week. More than twice as many people are biking as a year ago. (KOMO)
- Transit advocates want Cincinnati to raise its income tax to fund better bus service. (City Beat) While the city hasn’t responded to that request, Mayor John Cranley recently committed to spending $900,000 on pedestrian safety improvements. (WCPO)
- The Houston Chronicle generally supports the city’s $7.5-billion 2040 transit plan, but the paper’s editorial board thinks money earmarked for light rail is better spent on bus rapid transit.
- Uber will pay a nearly $1 million fine because it charged surge prices during a winter storm in violation of Gov. Charlie Baker’s state of emergency declaration. (Boston Globe)
- Mobile analytics company StreetLight Data is introducing a tool to help cities measure bike and pedestrian traffic, which is notoriously difficult and expensive to do. Planners can use the data to make decisions about where to place infrastructure. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Vancouver is giving Streetsblog’s Worst Bus Stop in North America a makeover. (Daily Hive)
- The mother of an Australian tourist killed on a bike by a truck driver in New York’s Central Park West spoke out against Whoopi Goldberg, who ranted last week against protected bike lanes on “The View.” (Patch, StreetsblogNYC)
- The Stranger rips bus-hating Seattle radio personality Todd Herman a new one for bragging about how he drives in bus lanes. Apparently Herman’s record of traffic infractions is as bad as his opinions on transit.
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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