Wednesday’s Headlines From Around the Nation
Slow down! The fewer people drivers injure, the more beds for COVID-19 victims. Click here for that story and more.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on April 1, 2020
- Medical experts want to lower speed limits to keep crash victims out of hospitals, freeing up beds for people with COVID-19 (Forbes). And Streetsblog’s Kea Wilson knows just how to do it.
- With people driving less and a surplus of winter gas, the EPA is delaying the switchover to cleaner summer gas by several weeks. So the one thing that was good about the COVID-19 crisis — fewer people driving — means we get stuck with dirtier gas into the summer. (Wall Street Journal)
- Transit workers are at risk of catching the coronavirus, and they need protective gear, too (Transit Center). At Boston’s transit agency alone, 18 employees are infected (WCVB).
- Transit agencies continue to cut back service in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing essential workers to choose between their jobs and their health (Wired). Hillsborough County (Tampa Bay Times), Dallas (CBS DFW) recently scaled back. and Cincinnati’s streetcar has been shut down (City Beat).
- Coronavirus is also having a severe effect on mobility services, with e-scooter and bike-share companies pulling out of cities, and ridership on Uber, Lyft and taxis down 70 percent (Intelligent Transport). Orange County, Florida recently banned e-bikes and e-scooters (Orlando Sentinel), while Cincinnati’s Red Bike is shutting down indefinitely. (Enquirer). But Detroit’s MoGo went the opposite direction, offering free monthly passes (Metro Times).
- Portland’s transportation commissioner says now is not the time to make temporary street changes to give people more room to spread out (Bike Portland). Nor will the Bay Area shift streets away from cars (Streetsblog SF). Other cities worldwide, though — including New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Bangkok and Jakarta — think now is precisely the time to make such changes (Reuters).
- Coronavirus has killed off conversations about closing a $10 million funding gap for Memphis transit. (Daily Memphian)
- One thing coronavirus can’t stop: Las Vegas road projects. (Review-Journal)
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
Friday Video: RIP, The D.C. Streetcar
Advocates are mourning the loss of the D.C. streetcar ... but they'e not entirely sad to see it die.
April 10, 2026
Trump Wants to Slash Federal Funding for Public Transit, Rail (Again)
The president’s proposed budget threatens transit projects across the country.
April 9, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Are the Taxman
Suspending gas taxes might be politically popular, but it doesn't save drivers money and takes away funding for infrastructure.
April 9, 2026
Michigan Bill Would Require Seniors to Regularly Re-Take Their Drivers’ Tests
...but would it really make roads safer?
April 8, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Have Good News and Bad News
Traffic deaths are back down to their pre-pandemic levels, but there is still much work left to be done.
April 8, 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.