Friday’s Headlines
The global explosion of shared bikes and scooters since 2017 is just the tip of the iceberg — the industry could be worth $300 billion by 2030. But one thing Silicon Valley hasn’t considered much is safety. (City Lab) Speaking of which, Memphis’s public Explore Bike Share is adding 300 bikes and 50 new stations, thanks … Continued
By
Blake Aued
1:21 AM EST on February 8, 2019
- The global explosion of shared bikes and scooters since 2017 is just the tip of the iceberg — the industry could be worth $300 billion by 2030. But one thing Silicon Valley hasn’t considered much is safety. (City Lab)
- Speaking of which, Memphis’s public Explore Bike Share is adding 300 bikes and 50 new stations, thanks to a fees paid by privately owned Bird and Lime. (WMC) The Springfield, Ill., city council has approved a bike share (ABC 20), and the same company, Gotchya, is also bringing 800 bikes to Baton Rouge, La. (WAFB) Portland, Maine, is looking to add one this spring, too (The Forecaster), as could Asheville, NC. (WLOS) And Phoenix, where e-scooters are currently banned, is mulling a pilot program. (State Press)
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she’s working on a transportation funding plan and wants to broker a deal for regional transit in Detroit, where suburban voters shot it down in 2016. Look for more details next month. (Crain’s)
- Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to push for restoring late-night service on the Metro over the MTA and Federal Transit Administration’s objections. (Curbed)
- San Diego’s Bicycle Advisory Board is calling for more protected bike lanes. (KUSI)
- San Antonio biking advocates want improvements on a street with no bike lanes where a DUI driver killed a cyclist earlier this week. (News4SA)
- Step on a crack, break your mother’s back: Little Rock parents are worried that a grated sidewalk designed to filter rainwater runoff could wind up injuring children. (KARK)
- And a cop tackled a cyclist in a ticket blitz — against cyclists! — four days after a cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run in New York City. (Streetsblog)
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.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday’s Headlines Do Things Backwards
The best cities have street grids with small blocks, but in recent decades cities have ceded the important responsibility of designing streets to private developers.
October 2, 2026
Op-Ed: How Urban Planning Can Succeed in America
Urban planners should study successful experiments throughout the country.
October 2, 2026
Friday Video: Fine, We’ll Talk about the E-Bike Episode on South Park
The fictional Colorado town has ample parking day or night... and the same issues with deadly e-motos getting confused for e-bikes as the rest of the country, apparently.
October 2, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Architecture’s Role in Population Decline
Good design is great, but if you can't afford it, you can't have babies. A very special edition of the podcast.
October 1, 2026
Steal This Idea: ‘Emergency Streets’ Strategy Gets First Real-World Pilot
The city of Spokane moved quickly to close a lane at the site where an 18-year-old motorcyclist died in a single-vehicle collision just a few days prior.
October 1, 2026