Tuesday’s Headlines from Around the Country
- The House Transportation Committee passed a $500-billion transportation bill, sending it to the full House for a vote later this month. But even if it passes, it still faces obstacles in the Republican-controlled Senate. (Washington Post)
- The U.S. doesn't need to spend so much money on highways. Even though they're used more, they're in better repair than they were 30 years ago. (Forbes)
- Lyft's promise to go all-electric by 2030 doesn't extend to paying for drivers' new vehicles. (USA Today)
- The killing of George Floyd by police is bringing renewed attention to the case of Byron Williams, a Black man who was arrested in Las Vegas for riding a bike without a light. Officers knelt on Williams's back while he told them he couldn't breath, and he later died in police custody. (NBC News)
- The Minneapolis group Our Streets made waves last year when it announced its opposition to police enforcing traffic laws. That's becoming an increasingly mainstream position after Floyd's death (MinnPost). In New York, a transportation group is urging the city to transfer the money police spend on traffic enforcement to better street design and automated cameras instead (Long Island City Post). Kea Wilson tackles this issue in Streetsblog.
- The new national interest in racial justice is bolstering Houston activists' insistence that vulnerable communities be protected during the I-45 widening project. (Chronicle)
- Bus lanes, bike lanes, more loading zones and even gondolas are all part of Denver's plan to cut commuting by car to 50 percent by 2030. The question, as always, is how to pay for it. (Denverite)
- San Francisco's Muni is making changes to improve social distancing at chokepoints (SFist), and Phoenix's Valley Metro will require riders to wear masks (Your Valley).
- Madison's bike share is booming (Cap Times), and bikes are flying off the shelves in Boise (Idaho Press).
- Check out this map of Washington, D.C.'s old horse-drawn streetcar routes. (Greater Greater Washington)
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