Monday’s Headlines
- 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)
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