Streetsblog

Friday’s Headlines to Set You Up for the Weekend

Lots of news today, so let's get right to it!

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on August 28, 2020

Americans took 136 million trips on shared bikes and e-scooters last year, up from 84 million in 2018, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials. (Bloomberg)
Self-driving cars are still years away, but in the meantime, technology can help drivers deal with their road rage. (Time)
A poll found that 82 percent of Uber drivers want to remain independent contractors. But take it with a grain of salt — the poll was commissioned by Uber itself. (Axios)
Uber’s former chief security officer has been charged with trying to cover up a data breach. (Slate)
Greater Greater Washington hosted a panel discussion on riding the bus while Black. Panelists from around the country discussed how transportation has been used to enforce segregation, and how transit is underfunded compared to highways.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it needs a $12 billion federal bailout to avoid slashing subway and bus service by 40 percent. (Streetsblog)
Las Vegas’s transit agency faces a $35-million shortfall this year that’s projected to grow to $75 million in 2021. (Nevada Current)
Tampa light rail and streetcar projects are in limbo pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the sales tax that would fund them. (Tampa Bay Times)
The Florida DOT might build a long-delayed SunRail extension to DeLand after all. (Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Once left for dead, Minneapolis’ Southwest light rail line is now a quarter complete and likely to receive federal funds to finish the rest. (MinnPost)
Orange County outsourced public transit to Lyft in 2016, and riders were nearly left stranded when the company threatened to pull out of California. (Voice of OC)
A massive mixed-use project in Austin will include a MetroRail station. (Culture Map)
Little Rock’s transit agency is dropping some less-popular routes and replacing them with a cross-town connector and on-demand van service. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
A federal judge threw out a weapons charge against an Iowa man, saying that he was arrested for “walking while Black.” (Press-Citizen)
Locusts are very good at not colliding with each other, and Penn State engineers hope to learn from them how to keep self-driving cars from crashing. (Inverse)

Blake Aued

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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