Tuesday’s Headlines From Around the Nation
Will bikes be the Next Big Thing — or will the current cycling surge die out like it did in the 1970s? That story and more are just one click away.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on May 5, 2020
- Transit agencies all over the world are putting stickers on station floors to show people how far apart to stand, running longer trains so passengers can spread out and disinfecting vehicles every day as they prepare for people to start returning to work (Associated Press). Bikes are booming as a post-coronavirus transportation option (New York Times). But bikes were booming in the 1970s, too — and that trend didn’t last. (Forbes)
- Coronavirus could threaten future public-private infrastructure projects. (Eno Center for Transportation)
- Uber is going to start requiring drivers and passengers to wear masks. (The Verge)
- New York Magazine thinks Lyft is going away, and Uber will be a smaller company after the coronavirus pandemic.
- Infrastructure Week, Part 3,476. (The Hill)
- The companies building Maryland’s Purple Line are threatening to walk away from the project because the state hasn’t paid for delays and cost overruns. (Washington Post)
- With people driving less, toll collections in Pennsylvania are down, threatening $178 million for Philadelphia transit upgrades. (WIFT)
- A light rail extension in Buffalo would cost $1 billion. The Federal Transit Administration told the city to look at cheaper bus rapid transit instead. (News)
- Lyft, which is laying off almost 1,000 employees, is pulling scooters out of San Jose, Oakland and Austin, Texas. (East Bay Times)
- As a condition of a coronavirus relief package, Air France is no longer allowed to compete with train trips that last two-and-a-half hours or less (International Rail Journal). That could work here, of course, except we don’t have high-speed rail.
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.
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