Wednesday’s Headlines
A New York Times story about self-driving cars focuses on whether the technology is feasible and doesn’t stop to question if or how it will get vehicles off the roads. Scooter rental companies Lime and Bird are starting to get serious about safety. (City Lab) The mobility tool Populus now has the ability to show … Continued
By
Blake Aued
1:36 AM EDT on July 17, 2019
- A New York Times story about self-driving cars focuses on whether the technology is feasible and doesn’t stop to question if or how it will get vehicles off the roads.
- Scooter rental companies Lime and Bird are starting to get serious about safety. (City Lab)
- The mobility tool Populus now has the ability to show city officials where people are riding shared bikes and scooters — useful for planning. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Despite strong community opposition, Louisiana is still intent on ramming a freeway through inner-city Shreveport like this were the 1950s. (Strong Towns)
- Fares are up and on-time performance is down, but Denver transit officials are still puzzled about why ridership has dropped 14 percent since last year. (Denver Post)
- Austin — which is seeing more intensive development on formerly suburban roads — is starting a speed management program to slow traffic. (Monitor)
- Uber and Lyft rides are down in New York City as fares rise. NYC recently limited the city’s number of ride-sharing drivers and starting charging passengers a congestion surcharge. (Bloomberg)
- A Free Press columnist criticizes Michigan Republicans’ plan to sell pension bonds to fix roads, rather than raise the gas tax. It’s the same budget gimmick that helped bankrupt Detroit.
- A Milwaukee bus rapid transit line is expected to be up and running by 2021. (urbanmilwaukee)
- The first trolley on the first light rail built in the U.S. after World War II is back on the streets in San Diego. (Times of San Diego)
- Get ready to share the bike lane with R2D2. (Digital Trends)
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:
More from Streetsblog USA
Push Grows To Move Parking Enforcement From NYPD To DOT
Two community boards want the job to go to the agency already in charge of the streets.
April 13, 2026
Can This Tool Predict Where Your City’s Next Car Crash Will Happen?
But will U.S. transportation leaders use it to take preemptive action to make roadways safer?
April 13, 2026
Monday’s Headlines Show the True Cost of Climate Change
Making cars slightly cheaper in the short run in exchange for accelerating climate change is not a good tradeoff.
April 13, 2026
Friday Video: RIP, The D.C. Streetcar
Advocates are mourning the loss of the D.C. streetcar ... but they'e not entirely sad to see it die.
April 10, 2026
You’re Authorized to Read Friday’s Headlines
An important federal transportation funding bill is in the works. Here's what to look out for.
April 10, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.