Friday’s Headlines from Around the USA

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on March 13, 2020

Both young families and aging boomers are looking for smaller homes and don’t want to be dependent on cars. But developers aren’t providing that type of housing, instead building bigger and bigger homes that most people can’t afford. (Curbed)
Public transportation has an equity problem, and Next City has ideas to fix it: Look at data by demographic, tap into underrepresented communities, identify problems and find the most efficient way to fix them.
Remember to be counted during the Census, because population data guides everything, such as where cities route buses and which rail projects the federal government funds. (Charlotte Agenda)
Transit ridership is falling due to COVID-19, which mean agencies are likely to start running out of money and cutting back service. (Human Transit)
Uber and Lyft drivers are at risk for COVID-19, but the companies don’t offer health insurance. (Willamette Week)
The corona bump: Philadelphia bike-share Indego’s had almost twice as many users so far in March as this time in 2019 (WHYY). New York City's Citi Bike is also surging (Streetsblog).
Gas tax or carbon tax? The Massachusetts legislature and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker are at odds. Both measures would fund transit, but Baker prefers a cap-and-trade carbon plan, while Democrats want to raise the gas tax. (Planetizen)
Two months after San Francisco closed Market Street, bike and e-scooter ridership is up, and buses are running faster. (City Lab)
Maryland dashed hopes that a new bridge over the Potomac would have a separated bike path, but now a group of Virginia cyclists is trying to save the old bridge for bikes and pedestrians. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order calling for a 45-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2035 and 80 percent by 2050. (KEX)
Springfield, Illinois unveiled plans for a $68-million transit center that will accommodate city buses and Amtrak trains. (State Journal-Register)
Because it’s too much to ask Americans to ever get out of their cars, a Dallas-based hospital chain is now offering drive-through COVID-19 testing. (Modern Health Care)

Blake Aued

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