Tuesday’s Headlines
- The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $423 million in grants for 94 bus projects in 42 states, including electric and compressed natural gas buses for numerous agencies, a new transit station in Flagstaff, a streamlined fare collection system in Detroit and bus security cameras in Nevada. (Mass Transit Mag)
- Car-centric suburbs like Montgomery County, Maryland — where drivers kill more people than murderers — are increasingly pursuing Vision Zero, narrowing lanes, lowering speed limits and adding crosswalks to make streets safer for pedestrians (Washington Post). Streetsblog sees the county as a model.
- Strong Towns’ annual #BlackFridayParking campaign features some seriously empty mall parking lots, as well as stories on ending parking minimums, parking guru Donald Shoup and more.
- As New Jersey mulls legislation reclassifying ride-hailing drivers as employees rather than contractors, a class-action lawsuit alleges that Lyft did not pay drivers a minimum wage or overtime and did not reimburse business expenses. (NJ.com)
- Chicago's transit system needs upgrades in order to meet the needs of the region's growing elderly and disabled populations, according to a new Metropolitan Planning Council report. (Chicago Tribune)
- Public transit in Missouri has a $3.7-billion economic impact, according to a new study by Citizens for Modern Transit, but the state only spends 34 cents per person on transit, far less than most of its neighbors. (Fox 2 Now)
- San Francisco is trying to get people out of their cars, but the number of cyclists has remained static for years. Will installing 100 new bike racks a month help? (Chronicle)
- Los Angeles is looking at tolls on the 405 as a way to reduce congestion. (LA Times)
- Tucson has applied for a federal grant to plan a 15-mile streetcar line from the transit center to the airport. (Arizona Public Media)
- The Stranger weighs in against enforcing mandatory helmet laws in Seattle.
- Norway has the safest roads for cycling, according to the Road Safety Annual Report from the International Transportation Forum within the OECD. The U.S. ranked 33rd out of 40. (Forbes)
- If you think the Hyperloop is silly, AeroSlider says, “hold my beer.” In an understatement, Fast Company calls the concept, which involves magnetic loops propelling an elevated train up to 500 miles per hour, “something of an engineering fantasy."
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