Wednesday’s Headlines

Not to get all personal for a second, but according to our internal content management system gauge (pictured), this is officially our 10,000 StreetsblogUSA post (do we win anything?).

It’s been our pleasure to serve up these 100-squared stories over the years, so let’s get started on the next 10,000 right now…

• The Wall Street Journal (paywall) broke a story that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao hasn’t divested from a company that supplies materials used to pave roads, which she promised to do when she was confirmed in 2017. In other words, the person who oversees the U.S. highway system also profits from building highways. Slate has a summary for those who don’t subscribe to the WSJ.
• Uber and Lyft are finding out the hard way that taxi regulations exist for a reason. (Washington Post)
• Michigan should raise its gas tax and spend some of the money on sidewalks, bike lanes, road diets and transit (Traverse City Record-Eagle). California is doing exactly that, and it’s ticking off drivers, despite the fact that reducing lanes makes roads safer for everyone. Fortunately, state lawmakers remain committed to the strategy. (L.A. Times)
• Sound Transit will probably opt for cheaper elevated lines on the West Seattle/Ballard light rail extension if it can’t find more funding for tunnels. (KING)
• After the death of the Durham-Orange light rail line, the North Carolina county is taking another stab at commuter rail by agreeing to help fund a GoTriangle study. (Chapelboro)
• Ridership on Florida’s SunRail is rising, and it might be ripe for an extension. (Daytona News-Journal)
• Portland’s TriMet is proposing protected intersections — the safest way to handle bike traffic — at three locations. (BikePortland)
• Washington, D.C. is repainting crosswalks to make them more visible, but it probably won’t do much good. (WAMU)
• Denver is offering teenagers free transit passes this summer. (Colorado Politics)
• Support for Sidewalk Labs’ “smart neighborhood” Quayside remains strong in Toronto despite a spate of protests and negative press. (Smart Cities Dive)
• Nashville residents found a creative way to get drivers to slow down in front on an elementary school: paint a mural. (Tennessee Tribune)