Wednesday’s Headlines As You Like Them
Lots of transit news, plus a Lyft passenger goes one further than merely not wearing a mask. All in today's news digest.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 5, 2020
- As transit agencies face a pandemic-driven fiscal crisis, data shows that cuts made during past recessions often were never restored. This is particularly dangerous because many unemployed and low-income workers either can’t afford cars or are seeing them repossessed. (City Lab)
- The U.K. is considering banning advertisements for SUVs so the nation can meet its climate change goals. More than 40 percent of vehicles sold in the UK are too big to fit in an average parking space, and they also consume more fuel and emit more greenhouse gas pollution. (The Guardian)
- With private investors pouring money into high-speed rail, funding is no longer the reason why the U.S. has such a shoddy network. The biggest challenge is buying and assembling the right-of-way. (Governing)
- A funding bill passed by the U.S. House includes $19 billion for transit and $3 billion for rail, as well as a mask mandate for Amtrak and big-city transit agencies. (Mass Transit Mag)
- The founder of the urban planning website Strong Towns says his engineering license is under threat because of his advocacy for safer streets.
- Negotiations with BNSF Railway to use a freight line for Twin Cities’ Bottineau Blue Line have failed, leaving officials to search for a new route for the $1.5 billion light-rail line. (Star Tribune)
- Bay Area commuters who used to rely on transit and are now scared are buying “COVID cars” in droves. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- A new study of quick-build protected intersections in Oakland shows that they make drivers more likely to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. (Streetsblog SF)
- Salt Lake City and the Utah DOT are widening roads and encouraging more parking lots, but they can’t pave their way out of congestion. (Salt Lake Tribune)
- The Cincinnati City Council found a source of funding for the streetcar that doesn’t involve taking money away from buses. (Inquirer)
- The Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody is reviewing plans for a bike/ped trail connecting a mall, other developments and transit stations (Crier), while nearby Buckhead is looking into express buses (Reporter).
- Florida Man strikes again: A Lyft passenger put his driver in a headlock because he was mad that the driver installed a plastic partition to protect him from COVID-19. (Click Orlando)
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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