Monday’s Headlines

By Blake Aued

12:02 AM EST on January 27, 2020

Amtrak’s plans to roll out new high-speed trains on its Acela line between Boston and Washington, D.C. in 2021 are likely to be delayed, according to the railroad’s inspector general. (Washington Post)
Toyota is rebranding itself as a “mobility” company and building an EPCOT-like “smart city” on the site of a soon-to-be-shuttered auto manufacturing plant. (City Lab)
In a Smart Cities Dive interview, Bird’s director of sustainability said that a third to a half of e-scooter trips are replacing car trips, the company is building more and more durable vehicles to cut down on life-cycle emissions, and it’s pushing cities to build safer infrastructure. But in Washington, D.C., e-scooter and dockless bike rides appear to be replacing rides on publicly owned Capital Bikeshare (WTOP).
New York City’s 14th Street busway project demonstrates the benefits of bus-only lanes: Faster bus rides lead to more riders and fewer cars, which benefits everyone — even people who still choose to drive. (Curbed)
After the failure of Atlanta suburb Gwinnett County's transit plan at the ballot box last year, a committee has retooled it to include better bus service that reaches more residents earlier on in the plan's 30-year timeframe. Now it's up to county commissioners to decide whether to put the plan on the ballot. (AJC)
The $4 billion lost in the recent Washington state car tab referendum should be replaced with an “air quality surcharge” based on a vehicle’s estimated lifetime pollution, a Seattle Times columnist argues.
The Federal Transit Administration gave Portland’s TriMet an $87-million grant to improve bus service in the Southeast Division corridor, one of its most popular routes. (KPTV)
Uber is mapping Washington, D.C. streets in advance of deploying self-driving vehicles there later this year. (Tech Crunch)
A hospital system that had pulled funding for San Antonio’s bike-share, endangering the system, will now fund it through April. (Rivard Report)
The Denver Post credited Streetsblog Denver’s RTD in Crisis series in a story about big changes coming to the transit agency, which is cutting routes and losing riders in the face of a driver shortage.
Delays in state and federal reimbursements forced the transit agency in Wilmington, North Carolina to ask for a $700,000 loan from the city to keep operating. (WECT)
Cincinnati took so long to fund a 9-year-old’s request for a sidewalk at her school that she’s now too old to use it. (WCPO)

Blake Aued

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