Friday’s Headlines from Around the Nation
- Ugh. The CDC is now recommending that people drive to work alone rather than carpool or take transit to avoid exposure to coronavirus, and even wants employers to offer reimbursement for parking (New York Times), even though there's no evidence that transit is any more dangerous than being in an office. City Lab has a guide to using transit safely. It’s pretty common-sense advice, like wear a mask, try to sit somewhere with good ventilation, and stay away from other people — especially ones who talk loudly.
- The CDC's guidance may change this, but Human Transit says COVID-19 may have killed rush hour, which is good news because providing transit service at peak hours is expensive.
- An architect advising the city of Madrid believes “the post-COVID city is a post-auto city” (Explica). (Not if we're all supposed to drive to work by ourselves!)
- Biking is growing fastest among low-income and minority groups, yet they’re often invisible or ignored in planning infrastructure and are subjected to more policing. (The Conversation)
- Since its merger with Lime, JUMP has dumped thousands of perfectly good bikes at recycling facilities, even as there’s a global shortage of bikes because cycling is skyrocketing during the pandemic. (Vice, Streetsblog)
- The for-profit Brightline is asking Miami-Dade to spend $350 million on five new train platforms as part of an express line to Orlando. The plan is an alternative to the publicly owned Tri-Rail build a coastal line. (Miami Herald)
- New York Magazine profiles Sarah Feinberg, the interim president of New York City Transit, who started the week before Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a lockdown. She’s still taking the subway to work.
- New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is exploring the possibility of turning the French Quarter into a pedestrian-only zone. (Times-Picayune)
- Portland is winning praise for its Safe Streets/Healthy Businesses program allowing reopening businesses to use sidewalks and streets.
- Six candidates for mayor of Baltimore talked to Greater Greater Washington about transportation issues.
- The Kansas City streetcar won federal approval for an expansion (KSHB), and Orange County, California, awarded a $45-million contract to operate its streetcar, which will start rolling in 2022 (Register).
- The United Kingdom will spend 283 million euros to increase frequency and capacity on trains and buses to promote social distancing, as well as hygiene measures. (The Guardian)
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