- 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.
Streetsblog
Friday’s Headlines From Around the Nation
By Blake Aued
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday Video: Buenos Aires Will Challenge Everything You Think You Know About Buses
The Paris of South America has an amazing bus system — but it doesn't run like North American ones at all.
March 13, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Change How We Keep Score
The way the U.S. measures traffic death rates skews public perception toward the status quo.
March 13, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: Buildings are Here to Help People
Jeremy Wells on his book, Managing the Magic of Old Places: Crafting Public Policies for People-Centered Historic Preservation.
March 12, 2026
Bus Companies Say There’s a Better Way to Take a ‘Great American Road Trip’ This Summer
"Our eventual goal is to make inter-city bus travel every American's first consideration when they think about how to get from one city to the next."
March 12, 2026
Opinion: Make This Summer’s World Cup A Car-Free Paradise
NYC has a major opportunity to support people who don't drive during the World Cup. Could other host cities do it, too?
Thursday’s Headlines Can’t Keep Up
While other developed nations are building more transit lines as their populations increase, the U.S. is not.
March 12, 2026
