Tuesday’s Headlines to Really Start the Week
The battle to rein in Uber and Lyft heats up in Cali — while New York City's transit system goes deeper into the red. Plus all the other headlines.
By
Blake Aued
12:02 AM EDT on October 13, 2020
- The battle over Prop 22 — Uber and Lyft’s effort to overturn a California labor law aimed at protecting drivers — is heating up. Supporters have spent $185 million to convince voters to pass it (San Jose Mercury News). And they’ve used some underhanded tactics, like a fake “progressive” voter guide (SFGate). Uber executives are also lobbying company staffers to support the effort (Bloomberg).
- Fast Company asks whether we should be subsidizing cars for low-income families. The answer should be emphatically, “No!” Unfortunately, though, in most parts of the U.S., such families don’t have an alternative.
- New technology using a crack-counting sensor can tell if an e-scooter is illegally on the sidewalk. (Washington Post)
- Maryland is taking over Purple Line construction from private contractors that have balked at continuing work without more money to cover cost overruns. (DCist)
- New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has already borrowed $450 million from the Federal Reserve to cover operating costs, and it’s considering borrowing another $2.9 billion to cover part of a projected pandemic-related $12 billion deficit over the next two years. (Pew)
- Former Streetsblog Denver editor Andy Bosselman thinks the Mile High City’s dysfunctional Regional Transportation District’s elected board of directors should be disbanded. (Denver Post)
- Atlanta transit agency MARTA is sending out surveyors to identify potential locations for light-rail stations along the BeltLine. (What Now Atlanta)
- Ride-hailing startup Zoom Ride is launching in Michigan as a safer alternative for women to Uber and Lyft, which have been wracked by sexual assault allegations against drivers. (Detroit News)
- Public Source has more on Pittsburgh’s new bike-friendly “neighborways.”
- Seattle finished a new section of the two-way bike lane on Fourth Avenue. (Seattle Times)
- Madison is reducing the speed limit on Milwaukee Avenue, where drivers have seriously injured nine people in the past five years, including two crossing the street. (State Journal)
- Parking revenue funds Milwaukee’s streetcar, so The Hop is struggling financially since the city suspended parking enforcement during the pandemic. Now one alderman wants to cut the streetcar budget. (WTMJ)
- JUMP is launching a dockless e-bike fleet in Baltimore. (WJZ)
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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