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America is falling back in love with streetcars, but is it nostalgia? Mobility Lab points out that what people really want is frequent, reliable and cheap transit service, whether it’s on tracks or tires. Streetcars once provided that, but there was a reason cities ditched them for buses in the first place. “Portable benefits” like … Continued

By Blake Aued

8:10 AM EDT on April 19, 2019

America is falling back in love with streetcars, but is it nostalgia? Mobility Lab points out that what people really want is frequent, reliable and cheap transit service, whether it’s on tracks or tires. Streetcars once provided that, but there was a reason cities ditched them for buses in the first place.
“Portable benefits” like health insurance that follows workers from job to job could help gig economy employees like Uber and Lyft drivers. (Next City)
E-scooter ridership has topped dockless bikes for the first time (Streetsblog) and is creeping up on bike-shares as a whole, with or without stations (Tech Crunch).
Democratic presidential candidate and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar told a Nashville crowd that the city voted down a transit referendum last year because not enough help was coming from the federal government. (U.S. News & World Report)
Tampa Bay’s ABC affiliate did a report on the city’s epidemic of pedestrian deaths, but instead of examining how the streets are dangerous by design, set up hidden cameras to catch people in the act of crossing the street on foot. Instead of addressing auto-centric streets, the Florida DOT spent $9 million on an ad campaign shaming jaywalkers.
A consultant told Cleveland’s struggling transit authority that it should spend $715 million over 30 years replacing aging train cars. (Plain Dealer)
A deal between Atlanta and the suburb of Sandy Springs will extend the PATH400 bike and pedestrian trail along a freeway and rail line from the Beltway 20 miles north to Roswell, making it easier for hundreds of thousands of workers to commute without a car. (Curbed)
Since Boston instituted Vision Zero, traffic deaths are down by half, but injuries are up slightly. (Herald)
Cincinnati is the latest city to mull new regulations on ride-hailing services in the wake of several cases where Lyft and Uber drivers — or people passengers thought were Uber or Lyft drivers — raped and murdered their riders. (Enquirer)
In Silicon Valley’s latest #disruption, Lyft has reinvented the airport taxi line. (Jalopnik)

Blake Aued

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.

Today's Headlines

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