Tuesday’s Headlines
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- Coronavirus is causing production delays for Lyft bikes and scooters (Reuters). Delivery and ride-hailing drivers who could be vectors are also nervous about the outbreak, with companies sharing little information (Buzzfeed)
- Cities are quick to plow roads after snowstorms, but often rely on adjacent property owners to clear sidewalks — to the detriment of those who need to walk on them. (Slate)
- A few governors are wavering as the Koch Brother assaults the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a bipartisan plan for Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to raise gas taxes and spend the money fighting climate change (New York Times). Will Maine Gov. Janet Mills sign it? (Maine Wire)
- A stretch of California’s planned high-speed rail line between Bakersfield and Palmdale would cost $18 billion to build, go over a mountain range and take out a high school, a homeless shelter and low-income housing in its path. (L.A. Times)
- More people are carpooling to work on I-66 inside the Beltway since Virginia started tolling solo drivers. (WTOP)
- Metro Detroit counties could opt out of regional transit under a new bill introduced in the Michigan legislature, dealing a blow to ambitions to finally expand transit in the car-centric area. (M Live)
- So much for Gov. Greg Abbott saying the era of road-building is over. The Texas DOT wants to spend $7.5 billion expanding I-35 through downtown Austin, even as the city finalizes plans to devote a roughly equal amount to rail and other transit improvements. (American-Statesman, Streetsblog)
- Indianapolis transit agency IndyGo had said it would go all-electric by 2035, but recently canceled an order for electric buses and opted for diesel instead. (Indianapolis Star)
- Sound Transit is fast-tracking an expansion into North Seattle, with a new station at 130th Street set to open by 2025. (Seattle Times)
- Orlando is cracking down on cyclists and pedestrians as well as distracted drivers, even though as one resident pointed out, drivers don’t care whether you’re in a crosswalk or not. (Click Orlando)
- In an effort to reduce inequality, Luxembourg has become one of the first countries to make transit free. (Fast Company)
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