- In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation systems should be designed so they can easily shift to accommodate more walking and biking, loading zones, outdoor dining and surges in traffic as the need arises. (Planetizen)
- Los Angeles, Miami, Cincinnati and other cities suspended transit service during the recent demonstrations, stranding riders and contributing to the racial and economic injustice that people were protesting. (Transit Center)
- Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican on the House Transportation Committee, blasted transit agencies’ request for more federal funding to fill the coronavirus-shaped holes in their budgets. (Politico)
- Austin has finalized a $10-billion transit plan that includes three new light rail lines, funded by a property tax hike. Voters will approve or reject the plan in November. (American-Statesman)
- New ridership estimates for Massachusetts’s east-west rail line are much higher than initial forecasts, but the project will need federal funding to come to fruition. Cost estimates range from $2 billion to upgrade existing freight tracks to $25 billion for a new, high-speed electric line. (Mass Live)
- Ridership on the D.C. Metro shot up during last weekend’s protests, prompting the agency to look at adjusting its coronavirus recovery plan. (Washington Post)
- NJ Transit has a five-year, $17-billion plan for bus and rail projects, but only $11 billion to spend. Where will the rest of the money come from? (Spotlight)
- California regulators ruled that Uber and Lyft drivers are employees under the state’s new gig-work law, and ordered the companies to start paying unemployment insurance by July 1. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- The pandemic is far from over, but Denver’s Regional Transportation District is resuming front-door board and fare collection. (Colorado Politics)
- An Atlanta task force is working to untangle the codependent relationship between development and parking. (Saporta Report)
- An investigation is underway in Tulsa after video showed police handcuffing two black teenagers for jaywalking, aka walking while black. (World)
- Germany recently doubled subsidies for electric vehicles and is considering a “gas guzzler” tax on vehicles with high emissions and low mileage. The U.S. already has a similar tax — but SUVs and light trucks are exempt. (Electrek)
- Three autonomous bus companies will start testing prototypes in five European cities later this month. (Cities Today)
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Friday’s Headlines from Our Entire Nation
By Blake Aued
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