Tuesday’s Headlines From The U.S.A.
The D.C. Metro is in freefall (welcome to the club, Metro!). That plus the rest of yesterday's news.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on August 11, 2020
- Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi — whose company is embroiled in a number of labor disputes — wrote an op-ed in the New York Times saying the gig economy firms should create a fund to pay contractors benefits while allowing them to maintain flexible hours.
- Almost all of the 40 most populous cities in the U.S. have Complete Streets policies on the books. (Smart Growth America)
- Even as President Trump is appealing to racist anxieties in seeking suburban votes, cities and states like California are trying to come to grips with the damage done to the climate and people of color by sprawl and a codified reliance on cars. (NPR)
- Los Angeles Magazine delves into the challenges L.A. residents face commuting by transit during the pandemic.
- The coronavirus pandemic, the recession it caused and the teleworking trend have created the worst fiscal crisis in D.C. Metro history. (Washington Post)
- A freight hauler’s rejection of plans to use its right-of-way for the Bottineau light-rail line in Minneapolis has a silver lining: It gives officials an opportunity to find an even better route that’s more accessible to pedestrians. (Star Tribune)
- Walking is up 500 percent and biking a whopping 3,000 percent in Buffalo as residents head outdoors for exercise with gyms shuttered. (Buffalo News)
- It’s only $50 million, but for the first time, the state of Georgia is funding transit. There’s a catch, though: Gov. Brian Kemp says the bill needs to be passed again because of a technical error. (Saporta Report)
- A new express bus line started running Sunday in Oakland. (KPIX)
- An Asheville small business owners calls a recent road diet a success. (Citizen-Times)
- A vacant lot in Gary will become a transit-oriented, environmentally friendly development with access to bike-share and bus rapid transit. (Energy News Network)
- Washington State is considering replacing the gas tax with a mileage tax. (Washington Policy Center)
- The San Jose government says a Black Lives Matter painting on a city roadway is illegal. (KRON)
- Residents of Barcelona and other cities worldwide are emerging from lockdown to find their cities transformed into cycling paradises. Americans never seem to get that feeling. (Bloomberg)
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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