Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog

Thursday’s Headlines to Keep You Going

8:50 AM EST on November 5, 2020

    • Tuesday night's election was a nail-biter, and it still ain't over yet, but it was a good night for transit, with 13 out of 17 major initiatives on state and local ballots passing. (Streetsblog USA)
    • The most closely watched nationally was Prop 22 in California, where voters exempted Uber and Lyft from a state law classifying their drivers as employees entitled to benefits instead of independent contractors (CNN). Mother Jones says the ride-hailing companies essentially bought the election by spending $200 million, which is a pittance when they'll now be allowed to pay drivers as little as $5.64 an hour. But Vice says their business model is doomed anyway.
    • Also in California, Measure RR will provide Caltrain with a stable source of funding for the first time. (Streetsblog SF, NBC Bay Area)
    • Austin voters overwhelmingly approved the $7-billion Project Connect transit plan (Monitor). They also approved a smaller package of street, trail, bike lane and sidewalk improvements. (KXAN)
    • San Antonio also approved a sales-tax measure to expand transit. (Express-News).
    • Seattle at least partially replaced a car-tab fee that's faced legal challenges with a sales-tax hike to fund transit. (Seattle Times)
    • A tight referendum on transit in the notoriously auto-centric Atlanta suburb of Gwinnett County remains in limbo, though, as absentee ballots are still being counted. A previous attempt in 2018 failed badly, though, so even a close loss would be progress. (Daily Post)
    • A $4-billion payroll tax hike for bus service and other transportation improvements bitterly that was bitterly opposed by businesses failed in Portland, though. (Willamette Week)
    • However, Bend, Ore., approved a $190-million bond issue that will pay for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, among other things. (Bulletin)
    • In other news, charges were dropped against an Asheville, N.C., police officer who pleaded guilty of beating a Black man for jaywalking in 2017. (WRAL)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Today's Headlines

Friday’s Headlines Got Served

Another day, another GOP lawsuit trying to overturn a Biden administration climate change rule.

April 19, 2024
Disability

Disabled People Are Dying in America’s Crosswalks — But We’re Not Counting Them

The data on traffic fatalities and injuries doesn’t account for their needs or even count them. Better data would enable better solutions.

April 19, 2024
Streetsblog Los Angelesbus lanes

LA: Automated Enforcement Coming Soon to a Bus Lane Near You

Metro is already installing on-bus cameras. Soon comes testing, outreach, then warning tickets. Wilshire/5th/6th and La Brea will be the first bus routes in the bus lane enforcement program.

April 18, 2024
electrification

Talking Headways Podcast: Charging Up Transportation

This week, we talk to the great Gabe Klein, executive director of President Biden's Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (and a former Streetsblog board member), about curbside electrification.

April 18, 2024
Car crashes

Why Does the Vision Zero Movement Stop At the Edge of the Road?

U.S. car crash deaths are nearly 10 percent higher if you count collisions that happen just outside the right of way. So why don't off-road deaths get more air time among advocates?

April 18, 2024
See all posts