Thursday’s Headlines
- Only a month after taking office and a week after the Green New Deal highlighted the need for more passenger rail, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is drastically scaling back a San Francisco-to-Los Angeles high-speed rail line. (City Lab; more at Streetsblog CAL)
- The Washington Post editorial board buys into D.C. Metro officials’ argument that extending hours will make the transit system less safe by cutting into the amount of time available for maintenance. Metro’s safety committee is scheduled to vote today on a resolution to keep the current hours.
- Pretty much everyone in San Antonio has given up on building light rail. Well, bus rapid transit it is. (Express News)
- Traffic deaths are rising in Dallas and Houston, but they’re slowly declining in Austin even as the city has grown. Still, Austin’s rate of traffic deaths is nine times higher than New York City’s. (Monitor)
- Two Twin Cities rail lines had more riders than ever in 2018, but overall Metro Transit ridership was down. Officials said low gas prices, a bus driver shortage, construction and a fare increase were responsible for the dip. (Fox 9)
- Philadelphia now has an interactive online map showing where construction is blocking sidewalks. (Enquirer)
- Georgia lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill requiring drivers to stop for school buses where kids are getting on or off in the opposite lane. They relaxed the requirement last year, but now fear that if they don’t act, children will die. (AJC)
- Ditching your car and Ubering everywhere doesn’t make financial sense, but if you mix in transit, bike-shares and scooters, it might. (Motor Trend)
- Cupertino, Calif., now has bright orange flags pedestrians can wave in front of drivers right before they get pancaked because the city did nothing to slow down drivers. (San Jose Mercury News)
- Happy Valentine’s Day! Six Uber drivers who’ve seen it all give you their relationship advice. (Bustle)
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