Tuesday’s Headlines

12:01 AM EDT on October 15, 2019

By Blake Aued

Parents are more apt than transportation experts to see biking to school as dangerous, according to a new study. The authors think revising the street safety classification system might help convince parents that “low stress” streets are safe. (Science Daily)
Customers have carpooled through the Waze app over half a million times since the company started the service last September, mostly in congested cities like San Francisco, Seattle and Dallas. A fifth of Americans carpooled during the gas shortage in the 1970s, but that number is down to 7 percent now. (The Verge)
From Friend of Streetsblog Mark Brown’s blog Car Free America: E-scooters and dockless bikes can replace a lot of short car trips, but only if quality infrastructure and reasonable regulations are in place.
West Palm Beach is the latest city to allow e-scooters, with restrictions. (Palm Beach Post)
A private consortium of bike, e-scooter and ride-hailing companies is working with the Pittsburgh transportation officials to provide last-mile “mobility hubs” near transit stops. It’s the first time a city has invited private companies to help create an integrated system. (City Lab)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill requiring his state DOT to consider bike and pedestrian improvements on state routes that run through local communities (CalBike). But he did sign a bill allowing local governments to set up special tax districts for transit with voter approval, a funding mechanism that San Diego plans to use (Times of San Diego).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution debunks the Federal Highway Administration’s notion that rainbow crosswalks are unsafe.
Lyft has joined Uber in suing New York over the city’s rule the amount of time drivers can spend cruising around in empty cars looking for passengers and causing needless congestion. (Reuters)
South Phoenix business owners remain wary of light rail, even after voters overwhelmingly opted to continue expanding the system. City officials have said they’ll help those businesses stay open during construction, but owners want the city to do more. (Biz Journal)
The Las Vegas Sun opines that the overwhelming defeat of Prop 105 in Phoenix shows that Las Vegas should forge ahead with light rail of its own.
St. Louis’s Loop trolley needs $200,000 to continue operating through November and $500,000 for 2020. At least one city councilman wants to use the money for roads instead. (KMOV)
Several Cincinnati bike and transit projects are getting federal assistance. (City Beat)
Only two streetcars survived when Minneapolis scrapped its rail system in favor of buses in the 1950s. One wound up in Maine, restored by a man whose grandfather operated a Twin Cities streetcar. (Star Tribune)

Blake Aued

Stay in touch

More from Streetsblog USA

Today's Headlines

Wednesday’s Headlines Ask How Much a Life Is Worth

There isn't much of a financial penalty for drivers who kill pedestrians — especially if those drivers are cops.

Blake Aued

September 27, 2023

traffic violence

‘I’m Not Grieving Alone’: New Play Explores a Father’s Journey After Losing Two Children to Traffic Violence

Collin Campbell and his wife Gail Lerner lost both their children in a car crash with impaired driver. A new play explores why he

Jack Elbow Teague

September 27, 2023

Transit

How Transit Saved Lives — And Became a Lifeline — During and After the Maui Fires

A Hawaii bus agency helped transport 42,000 people off the island in the wake of the most devastating fires in the state's history — and highlighted the critical role that shared modes can play not just in preventing climate-related disasters, but saving lives when they happen.