Friday’s Headlines
Next-day shipping and food delivery services are choking cities with congestion and pollution. The World Economic Forum predicts that if nothing is done, greenhouse gas emissions from delivery vehicles will rise 32% over the next decade. (Scientific American) Leaders in Detroit and three out of four metro counties — Wayne, Washtenaw and Oakland — will … Continued
By
Blake Aued
7:10 AM EST on January 17, 2020
- Next-day shipping and food delivery services are choking cities with congestion and pollution. The World Economic Forum predicts that if nothing is done, greenhouse gas emissions from delivery vehicles will rise 32% over the next decade. (Scientific American)
- Leaders in Detroit and three out of four metro counties — Wayne, Washtenaw and Oakland — will try again to pass a regional transit plan, and the fourth, Macomb, could join in later. (WDIV)
- Amtrak is considering a new line between Nashville and Atlanta, with a stop in Chattanooga, which hasn’t had passenger rail service since 1971. (Times Free Press)
- Virginia is considering banning open containers and holding a cellphone while driving, legalizing speed cameras and letting local governments lower speed limits under 25 miles per hour — changes Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration estimates could save 150 lives per year. (WTOP)
- Lyft is adding 250 e-bikes and five stations to Columbus, Ohio’s bikeshare, and integrating the service into the Lyft app. (Dispatch)
- San Diego is waiving its $2,000 permit fee in an effort to get owners of 81,000 properties to fix their sidewalks. (Union-Tribune)
- Midtown Atlanta will see $47 million worth of protected bike lanes and other bike and pedestrian infrastructure in 2020. (Curbed) New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy blames his predecessor, Chris Christie, for gutting transit, but Murphy’s also been using funds for capital improvements to cover operating costs. (northjersey.com)
- The struggling Virginia mill town of Danville has found a formula for sustainable transit: low fares, customer service and smart use of state and federal dollars. (Greater Greater Washington)
- Only 1,700 of central Indiana’s 5,500 miles of roads have sidewalks. (Indianapolis Star)
- City Journal calls on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s holiday closure of Rockefeller Center to vehicles permanent.
- Tooting our own horn: Clean Technica features a Streetfilms video about L.A. bus-only lanes, and Archinect quotes Streetsblog senior editor Kea Wilson in a piece about Pete Buttigieg’s infrastructure plan.
- Londonist has a look at the eco-friendly Low Line walking path, the British capital’s answer to Manhattan’s High Line.
- Walk Bike Nashville will hold a memorial Saturday for the record 32 people killed there while walking last year.
- Stop calling Elon Musk’s tunnels “public transit.” His latest silly underground road uses Teslas to carry people the easily walkable distance of 0.83 miles. (Curbed)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog USA
State Bill Would Stop Highway Expansions Near Vulnerable New Yorkers
Assembly Member Emerita Torres's Stop Highway Community Harm Act would ban the state from expanding highways within 200 feet of public housing or in ZIP codes with the highest asthma-related emergency room visits in the state.
April 3, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Keep Our Eyes on the Road, Our Hands Upon the Wheel
Going to the roadhouse in a self-driving car does not mean you're gonna have a real good time.
April 3, 2026
Friday Video: A Master List of All The Reasons Why Car Domination Sucks
Jason Slaughter catalogues the many harms of America's preferred transportation monoculture.
April 2, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Civil Rights, Civic Transport
Let's talk about "disparate impact" — and why the Trump administration wants to gut it.
April 2, 2026
Study: How Capping Vehicle Sizes Could Help Save the World
...and why a multi-pronged transportation reform strategy is critical to curb climate change, slash road deaths, and more.
April 2, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.