Thursday’s Headlines From Around the World
The strength-in-numbers effect is confirmed again! That, plus all the other news, just one click away.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on May 21, 2020
- Politico describes transit as the “goody two-shoes” that coronavirus turned into a “pariah.” Transit will come back, experts predict — but no one is sure what that looks like.
- The COVID-19 recession could cause California’s transit revenue to drop by 80 percent through 2030, according to a Mineta Transportation Institute study. (Planetizen)
- Social distancing won’t help people avoid coronavirus on public transit, but masks will. (Pedestrian Observations)
- Speeding kills. A pedestrian hit by a driver going 30 miles per hour is twice as likely to die as one hit by someone driving 25 mph, so going even a little over the speed limit makes you a jerk. (Outside)
- Cities and states should be lowering speed limits, narrowing lanes, blocking cut-through traffic, reprogramming traffic lights and taking other steps to slow down speeding drivers while the pandemic has emptied streets. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
- Every city should get onboard with the slow streets movement. (Curbed)
- There’s a downside to everything. With roads largely empty, car crashes are down. Great news, right? Mostly — but fewer car crashes also means fewer organ donors. (Kaiser Health News)
- Uber laid off another 3,000 employees less than two weeks after laying off 3,700. The company is winding down its tech incubator and odd-job app, and focusing on ride-hailing and food delivery. (The Verge)
- Kansas City buses going fare-free is exciting, but the devil’s in the details. Where will the funding come from? Will the Kansas side cooperate with the Missouri side? And does the transit authority have enough rolling stock to handle an influx of riders? (U.S. PIRG)
- Most Pittsburgh buses and trains are returning to a normal schedule, but rear boarding and limits on the number of passengers are still in place (City Paper). In Seattle, Sound Transit is transitioning back to charging fares on light rail and commuter trains, although buses remain free (Seattle Times).
- Strength in numbers! Researchers found that the rate of car-bike collisions fell after Philadelphia introduced bike-sharing. (New York Times)
- Looking to get an e-bike? Dwell has some recommendations.
- City Lab wants readers to rate their cities on two very important metrics: transit and tacos.
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:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
Walkable Cities Can Make Life Better for Drivers, Too
...at least when communities embrace a handful of design strategies that make transportation better for everyone.
October 5, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Do Things Backwards
The best cities have street grids with small blocks, but in recent decades cities have ceded the important responsibility of designing streets to private developers.
October 2, 2026
Op-Ed: How Urban Planning Can Succeed in America
Urban planners should study successful experiments throughout the country.
October 2, 2026
Friday Video: Fine, We’ll Talk about the E-Bike Episode on South Park
The fictional Colorado town has ample parking day or night... and the same issues with deadly e-motos getting confused for e-bikes as the rest of the country, apparently.
October 2, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Architecture’s Role in Population Decline
Good design is great, but if you can't afford it, you can't have babies. A very special edition of the podcast.
October 1, 2026
