Wednesday’s Headlines

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EST on December 4, 2019

E-scooters might be good for air quality and easing traffic congestion, but they’re apparently a public health problem, thanks to relatively high speeds, a high center of gravity, and inability to handle rough roads and a proclivity to block sidewalks (The Hill). The New York Times’ David Leonhardt concurs, calling on scooters to be banned from sidewalks because they’re a threat to pedestrians. Reminder: Cars kill tens of thousands of innocent bystanders every year, which is itself a public health crisis. Scooters have killed a few scooter riders.
Miles driven per person in the U.S. is up since 2013, but still below the all-time high in 2004. (Green Car Congress)
Washington, D.C. area leaders are relying on transit-oriented development to house the 1.5 million people who are expected to move to the region in the next 25 years. (WTOP)
What will Sacramento voters get if they approve a half-cent sales tax for transportation in 2020? Two new bridges, light rail, Vision Zero safety improvements, an upgraded Amtrak station and “managed lanes” on freeways for carpools, buses and zero-emissions vehicles, among other things. (Bee)
RIP Alejandra Agredo, an influential advocate for Miami transit, despite being just 17 years old. The founder of the Miami Riders Alliance, who designed a new transit pass and developed software to track all modes of transit in Miami-Dade, Agredo struggled with depression and stepped in front of a train last week. (Herald)
Lyft e-bikes pulled from New York City over a brake problem have been stripped of their electric parts and reintroduced as pedal-only bikes in Chicago. (Smart Cities Dive)
Providence is moving ahead with more two-way bike lanes after initially creating one and then undoing it when residents complained. (WPRI)
The University of Miami may be an official bike-friendly campus, but students cite rough roads and lack of parking as impediments to pedaling. (Hurricane)
It looks like delivery cargo e-bikes are coming to New York City. (Streetsblog)
Conservative Seattle talk-radio host Todd Herman calls for “civil disobedience” if the $30 car tab fee recently approved by voters is struck down in court. (KIRO)
Beware of “vomit fraud”: Uber drivers in Cleveland and elsewhere are charging riders to clean up messes they didn’t actually cause. (WPTV)
Toronto’s supposed Vision Zero program is a deadly morass of gaslighting and victim-blaming. (Treehugger)
All right, so it’s not exactly transportation, per se, but Decider’s takedown of that viral Peloton ad is still worth a shout out.

Blake Aued

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