Tuesday’s Headlines: Farewell, 2019

Sponsored post: The Transportation Research Board’s 99th Annual Meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. from Jan. 12-16, 2020. Click here for more information.

• Wyoming drivers led the nation in miles driven by a long shot, at an average of 16,900 miles in 2017, according to federal statistics. Washington, D.C. residents drove the least — an average of 5,300 miles. (Green Car Congress)
• Automakers are discontinuing a number of compact and mid-sized cars in favor of larger and more dangerous SUVs and crossovers. (Don’t Waste Your Money)
• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is considering requiring Uber and Lyft to use electric vehicles. L.A. — which has a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 — would be the first city to do so. (Inside Climate News)
• D.C. Metro wants an independent agency to do an extra inspection of the Silver Line’s second phase, currently under construction. The project has had several “unresolved material and performance deficiencies,” according to Metro’s general manager. (Washington Post)
• Despite efforts to fast-track bike infrastructure and other safety improvements, San Francisco is a long way from meeting its Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2024. (Examiner)
• Light rail is fueling new housing construction in Salt Lake City’s southern suburbs (Utah Public Radio) and a real-estate boom in Charlotte, which added 120,000 people and 10 new skyscrapers in the past decade (Observer).
• West Palm Beach’s SkyBike is closing as the city prepares to launch a new micromobility service with e-bikes and e-scooters, in addition to traditional bikes. (Palm Beach Post)
• Five Connecticut towns are already building transit-oriented developments around future train stations, betting big that light rail will revitalize their communities. (Hartford Business)
• Houston’s bike-share ridership rose 50 percent in 2018. (Houston Public Media)
• A Missouri-Illinois development authority could step in to take over the St. Louis streetcar after the city council declined to fund it. (St. Louis Public Radio)
• Buses and streetcars are free in Tampa tonight. (Florida Politics)
• In Albuquerque, grandmas get run over by buses, not reindeer. A local rapper remixed a Christmas classic to remind drivers to stay in their lane. (KRQE)
• Streetsblog NYC cartoonist Bill Roundy takes on the NYPD’s obsession with SUVs.