Wednesday’s Headlines

12:52 AM EST on November 13, 2019

Despite the mobility revolution that gives people more options than ever for getting around, Americans still prefer to sit in traffic by themselves, fund roads with ever-shrinking gas taxes and are willing to accept 40,000 deaths a year. (The Hill)
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was just the latest tech/transportation executive to bend over backwards for Saudi Arabia when he called the state-sanctioned murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi a "mistake." The Saudis' massive sovereign wealth fund apparently trumps human rights. (The Verge)
Almost half of metro Atlanta residents believe expanding transit is the best solution to the region’s traffic problems, compared to less than a third who want to widen roads. But outside of DeKalb County, less than half support raising taxes to pay for it — not good news for upcoming transit referendums in suburban Cobb and Gwinnett counties. (AJC)
Houston Metro board members will decide how to spend $7.5 billion on transit over the next 20 years. But three of them rarely use transit themselves. (Chronicle)
Pittsburgh is working on a plan to connect its piecemeal and dangerous bike network by adding 120 miles of bike lanes. (Tribune-Review)
Albuquerque’s star-crossed bus rapid transit line will finally start service on Nov. 30. (Journal)
Boston edge cities are building walkable downtowns near transit, but they feel nothing like the historic parts of Boston and aren’t well connected to the rest of the region. (Commonwealth)
Ohio is the latest state that’s considering regulating e-scooters. (Toledo Blade)
Madison, Wisc., is asking for public input on its first parking-protected bike lane. (Channel 3000)
Tampa is hosting the 2019 Safe Routes to School National Conference today through Friday. (WFTS)
After just one year, Lyft-owned bikeshare Nice Ride is replacing 2,000 dockless bikes with e-bikes in Minneapolis. They’re not dockless per se, but they do come with additional options for parking (Star Tribune). Meanwhile, the Star Tribune editorial board has gotten behind a proposal to increase the police presence on Metro Transit and crack down on turnstile-jumpers, which means we can probably look forward to more viral videos of cops arresting people for eating sandwiches on a train (NBC News).

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