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
Feds Characterize Trump As Mercurial King In Latest Bid to End Congestion Pricing
The federal government insists that you can't count on the federal government to keep its word.
November 11, 2026
Transportation Advocates Split on Senate’s Big Permitting Bill
Would the BAAJA blast multimodal projects out of bureaucratic purgatory, make it a breeze to expand highways ... or both? Advocates sound off.
November 11, 2026
My Brother Died Because No One Could Stop a Super Speeder. Now We Can.
My brother died because of a speeding driver. A new law could slow them down, and it's spreading across the country.
November 11, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines Vote With Our Feet
What will it take to get pro-transit voters to actually ride transit?
November 11, 2026
How (And Why) To Capture the Livable Streets Movement on Film
Clarence Eckerson Jr. of Streetfilms talks with "The War on Cars" about how he uses filmmaking as a tool to make cities better.
November 10, 2026