Friday’s Headlines From Across our Nation
Lots of news about commutes (what are they again?) and getting cops out of traffic enforcement. Plus everything else to set you up for the weekend.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on July 17, 2020
- Maybe the carpocalypse isn’t coming after all? A new study says Americans will keep working from home and shopping online after the pandemic ends, taking 14 million cars off the roads and cutting miles driven by 10 percent permanently. (Bloomberg)
- Unfortunately, National Public Radio is collateral damage. Ratings are down as fewer people are listening on their commutes. People are downloading more podcasts, but that doesn’t make up for the lost revenue.
- On the other hand, while demand for parking is way down during the pandemic, parking-lot owners are optimistic that, in the long run, people will stay away from transit and drive more when the economy reopens. (Forbes)
- The Americans with Disabilities Act turns 30 this month, but many barriers to accessibility remain (Smart Cities Dive). (Just ask anyone in a wheelchair trying to navigate the New York City subway system.)
- Instead of transforming cities as promised when they came out in 2001, Segways become a joke. But they also paved the way for today’s e-scooters and bike-shares. (City Lab)
- Uber has been quietly recruiting privacy groups to help it fight Los Angeles’s quest for ridership data — but not everyone knew who was behind the effort. (Wired)
- Uber is also now offering mobile ticketing through its app for 15 transit agencies in Ohio and Kentucky — the first time it’s integrated ticketing for multiple agencies across state lines. (Smart Cities World)
- Curbed cites the Atlanta BeltLine as the poster child for transportation improvements that seem like good urban planning but wind up displacing Black residents through gentrification.
- The Massachusetts Senate scuttled a $600-million transportation bill, forcing lawmakers to look for more modest ways to fund transit. (Commonwealth)
- Support is quickly collapsing for widening I-5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter. (City Observatory)
- Greater Greater Washington questioned D.C. Council candidates about pedestrian safety and subsidizing transit.
- And Berkeley is going to get the police out of traffic enforcement. (Streetsblog)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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