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Wednesday’s Headlines

Black lives matter. Freight important for safer streets. Click here for those stories and more.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EDT on September 16, 2020

It’s time to start taking freight into account when designing safer streets. Freight accounts for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and delivery trucks are much more likely to kill pedestrians than passenger cars. (The City Fix)
The people who are most likely to use transit—women, people of color and people with low incomes—are not represented inside transit organizations, and dismantling white supremacy will take more than tweets, writes Tamika Butler in a heartfelt Kinder Institute essay.
2020 was supposed to be the year of the driverless car. So where are they? (Medium) While AI technology isn’t ready for prime time, a new algorithm could help autonomous vehicles avoid collisions (Inverse)
One gadfly and his lawyer are abusing San Francisco’s broken environmental appeals process to block safer-streets projects all over the city. (SF Chronicle)
The Federal Transit Administration finalized a $928 million grant for the Green Line’s light-rail extension into southwest Minneapolis. (Pioneer-Press)
A new report says that Philadelphia and New Jersey transit agencies’ fiscal crisis could cost the region manufacturing and construction jobs as agencies stop ordering rail cars and cancel new projects. (Inquirer)
After voting down a new light rail line last month, Sacramento’s transit board reversed course and is moving ahead with the $130 million project. (Bee)
Lyft announced on Tuesday that it will give half-priced rides in cabs and Citi Bikes on Nov. 3 to encourage people to vote. Just use the code “2020vote” in the Lyft app. Uber’s effort goes a bit further (USA Today).
Pop-up bike lanes around Boston Common will become permanent this fall. (Globe)
Three city-approved e-scooter companies are bringing 1,500 of the micromobility vehicles to Seattle in coming weeks. (KOMO)
Madison, Wisconsin, is testing pedal-assist cargo bikes to replace pickup trucks for city workers. (State Journal)
Well, that’s one way to get around—or rather, through—a car blocking the crosswalk. (Rex Chapman via Twitter)

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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