Streetsblog

Friday’s Headlines From Around the Nation

Pandemic decision points, more Purple Line drama, ghost streetcars, a farewell to Segways and more are just a click away.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on June 26, 2020

Catastrophes like a global pandemic permanently change society. The question is, will those changes be good or bad? Will people keep walking and biking? Will they ditch transit for cars and ditch cities for sprawling suburbs? Choices governments make now will influence those personal choices down the road. (Grist)
A coalition called the New Partnership on Infrastructure says cities should be given more autonomy on projects and invest in small and minority-owned businesses. (Smart Cities Dive)
As the pandemic forces cities to rethink streets, they should be giving a leg up to cargo bikes. (City Metric)
The billions the federal government is spending to bail out airlines would be better spent on a more environmentally friendly alternative: rail travel. (Huffington Post)
California’s high-speed rail authority is going back to the drawing board on the San Joaquin Valley line after a rebuke by the State Assembly. (Los Angeles Times)
The consortium of companies building Maryland’s Purple Line says it will dissolve its partnership with the state if the two sides can’t reach a deal on cost overruns. (Washington Post)
The Post also reports that the D.C. Metro is creating an independent panel to review complaints against transit police.
Seattle’s on-again, off-again downtown streetcar project is back on hold thanks to a $400 million budget shortfall (Seattle Times). Meanwhile, the Cincinnati streetcar will keep running without passengers for the next year (WCPO).
Pittsburgh’s 10-year bike master plan is finally ready and calls for adding 150 miles of bike lanes and trails to the existing 93 miles of bike infrastructure. (Post-Gazette)
A group of transportation engineers is proposing a car-free bridge connecting Manhattan and Queens. (New York Times)
Massachusetts officials have a new design for the Allston Multimodal Project that cuts the number of car lanes while adding commuter rail and a pedestrian path. (WBUR)
Colorado Springs is offering free bike-share access to the chronically homeless. (Out There)
The San Jose Mercury News capped off a week of reader complaints about Vision Zero by finally giving supporters of safer streets their say.
Segway is ending production of its much-hyped and much-ridiculed personal mobility device 19 years after its introduction. (BBC)
The director of MIT’s new Mobility Initiative will study the psychology behind how people make transportation choices.