Monday’s Headlines

12:01 AM EST on February 18, 2019

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to drastically scale back plans for a Los Angeles-San Francisco bullet train is a gift to anti-transit Republicans. (Politico) He ensured Americans won't get to experience modern rail travel for another generation. (Fortune)
A new study says that bike- and scooter-shares are hurting bus ridership, but trains and subways benefit. Bus trips tend to be just a couple of miles, which can easily be ridden on a bike or scooter. People also rent bikes and scooters to ride to the train station. (Government Technology)
The Federal Transit Administration is threatening to withhold $1.6 billion, including funding to build Maryland's Purple Line, if the D.C. Metro restores late-night service. Critics of extending hours say it would cut into needed maintenance time. (Washington Post) In part because of the threat, a Metro committee voted last week to keep the current hours. (WAMU)
The Post also reports that Maryland is planning to add toll lanes to I-270 and the Beltway. And Georgia legislators are pushing for a whole new interstate: I-14, which would run from west Texas to Augusta. (WSB-TV)
New York City's mayor penned an op-ed in the Times after Amazon took its ball and went home rather than deal with predictable local opposition — but that predictable local opposition had been ignored by Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo when they decided to give a $3-billion handout to the richest man in the world.
While Democrats in Gwinnett County vocally support expanding transit into the rapidly changing Atlanta suburb, most Republicans don't want to talk about it either way. (AJC)
New Orleans's transit authority is eliminating stops along the Canal Street streetcar line in hopes of speeding up ride times. (The Advocate)
Biking, walking and transit groups are asking Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for a cut if the state raises its gas tax. (Cincinnati Inquirer)
Federal authorities are investigating potential fiscal mismanagement of a Honolulu light-rail project. (Civil Beat)
Awwwww. An Oklahoma City couple got married on the streetcar on Valentine's Day. (KOCO)

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