Wednesday’s Headlines
E-scooter and bike rentals doubled to 84 million in 2018. Most of the increase came from e-scooters and dockless bikes, but experts say docked bike-shares are more likely to be sustainable. (Deseret News) Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs is preparing a detailed report on its controversial plan to remake Toronto’s waterfront as a “smart neighborhood” with … Continued
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on June 26, 2019
- E-scooter and bike rentals doubled to 84 million in 2018. Most of the increase came from e-scooters and dockless bikes, but experts say docked bike-shares are more likely to be sustainable. (Deseret News)
- Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs is preparing a detailed report on its controversial plan to remake Toronto’s waterfront as a “smart neighborhood” with heated sidewalks and robots making deliveries — and everything collecting data on everyone. (NY Times)
- Hoping to appease critics of its proposed expansion, Stanford University is offering Santa Clara County, Calif., $4.7 billion to address affordable housing and transportation issues — including $1.1 billion for transit improvements. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Lacking funding to extend Metrorail lines themselves, Miami officials are looking to China for help with supposedly cheaper maglev technology. However, only American-built transit systems qualify for federal grants, and a city analysis said maglev likely wouldn’t save money over elevated ordinary rail lines. (Herald, Streetsblog)
- President Obama’s transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, is among those will serve on a new safety review board looking into Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operations after a series of derailments. (Boston Herald)
- The death of the Durham-Orange light rail line has a silver lining: It could free up funds for Chapel Hill, N.C., bus rapid transit. (Herald-Sun)
- Milwaukee will lose $8 million in funding every year city officials delay extending its streetcar line. (Urban Milwaukee)
- Opponents of Minneapolis’s Southwest light rail line have seized on bee habitats as their latest tactic to stall the project. (WCCO)
- Public hearings on New Orleans transit updates start Monday. (WWNO)
- Two D.C. suburbs recently rejected road diets after citizen outcry, even though the projects would make those streets safer and hardly affect traffic at all. (Greater Greater Washington)
- Some people will do almost anything to save a few seconds behind the wheel. A London woman even posed as a dead cyclist’s aunt to oppose a separated bike lane. (The Guardian)
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 Video: Inside the Global Far-Right Push To Rip Out Bike Lanes
Toronto might be in the center of the fight to resist bike lane teardown today. But if some far-right politicians have their way, this fight won't be the last.
October 23, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Shoot Themselves in the Foot
Gas taxes pay for transit, too, so what happens when politicians pander to voters, and the highway trust fund runs dry?
October 23, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: A More Humanized Experience in Honolulu
If we look transit just as a distance issue, but as a time issue, performance should be discussed as one big whole.
October 22, 2026
Our Best Bet To Confront Climate Change in the Trump Era? Build More Apartments
Most climate strategies are hamstrung by Washington and culture wars across the country. But zoning reform may be the exception.
October 22, 2026
What ‘Flying Cars’ Could Mean For US Car Culture
Would fleets of flying cars be a dystopian nightmare, or a chance to create more walkable cities on the ground?
October 22, 2026
