Thursday’s Headlines
E-bikes are supplanting traditional bikes in cities all over the country. (U.S. News & World Report) Thanks in part to gas-powered cars, breathing city air can be as unhealthy as smoking. (Fast Company) Houston will ask voters in November to let the city borrow $3.5 billion to extend light rail lines and build bus rapid … Continued
By
Blake Aued
12:02 AM EDT on August 15, 2019
- E-bikes are supplanting traditional bikes in cities all over the country. (U.S. News & World Report)
- Thanks in part to gas-powered cars, breathing city air can be as unhealthy as smoking. (Fast Company)
- Houston will ask voters in November to let the city borrow $3.5 billion to extend light rail lines and build bus rapid transit and freeway HOV lanes. (Chronicle)
- A New York Times Magazine interactive map shows how segregation — from I-2o’s winding route to the suburbs’ resistance to transit — is contributing to Atlanta’s traffic jams.
- Golden Gate Transit may soon join other Bay Area transit agencies in offering half-price fare to low-income riders. (San Francisco Examiner)
- Seattle’s Center City streetcar is inching forward again after the city council approved $9 million for engineering and design work. (MyNorthwest)
- A “premium” — whatever that means — transit link between downtown and West Miami is still a decade away. (Miami Today)
- CycleHop is supposed to provide 250 rental bikes in Cleveland, but maintenance and redistribution problems mean there are often 40 or fewer on the streets. (Scene)
- Cycling advocates want a protected bike lane outside Amazon’s new Northern Virginia headquarters. (ARLnow)
- QR codes are slowing down transit boardings in China, where people are fumbling with their phones to pull up the app to pay. Near field communication technology like Apple Pay is faster, and some cities are experimenting with facial recognition. (Abacus)
- Inside the Wild West world of parking lot booting. (NPR)
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: Sen. Ed Markey Says Democrats ‘Have to Fight Harder’
StreetsblogMASS rode the bus from Malden to Chelsea with Sen. Ed Markey to talk federal transportation policy and this fall's elections.
August 28, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Are Cruisin’ in My ’64
Breaking news: Driving is fun, but expensive and dangerous.
August 28, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Measuring the Pulse of Urban Development
This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re joined by Karen Seto at Yale University and Zhe Zhu at the University of Connecticut to talk about their new study, The Urban Pulse.
August 27, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Are Living for the City
Suburban retail models are making cities less walkable, while climate change is doing the same in the suburbs.
August 27, 2026
NYC Mayor Doubles Down On Robert Moses’s Great Mistake And Will Rebuild An Urban Highway
Mayor Mamdani wants to build a temporary bypass road to allow for a 10-year, $4-billion rebuild of the BQE triple-cantilever.
August 27, 2026