Thursday’s Headlines as the Cold Continues
- Transit ridership is down and likely to stay that way for a while, but the pandemic has underscored its importance to essential workers, which makes access to transit a better post-COVID metric for success. (City Lab)
- Railway Age takes a deep dive into the latest coronavirus relief bill and what’s in it for transit.
- Many COVID-19 vaccination sites are drive-through, making them hard to access for the elderly, disabled, non-drivers and rural residents. Some cities, like New York and Austin, are picking up the slack by offering rides. (Next City)
- Uber and Lyft drivers are protesting the companies’ continued failure to protect them from COVID-19 by providing sick pay or giving them time to sanitize their vehicles between rides. (Business Insider)
- Through complicated financial schemes, cities and states are funding pensions by issuing bonds using public property like roads as collateral. (New York Times)
- Electric cars aren’t the end-all be-all, but raising gas taxes would encourage more drivers — and manufacturers — to switch to EVs. (Washington Post)
- Electric moped company Revel is expanding into e-bikes and offering Netflix-style monthly subscriptions. (The Verge)
- Southern California strictly regulates housing while making driving easy, but it should be the other way around. (Pasadena Star-News)
- A new plan for Spokane calls for denser development, fewer car lanes, more protected bike lanes and virtually eliminating surface parking lots downtown. (Spokesman-Review)
- Las Vegas cyclists are now allowed to take the lane. (Review-Journal)
- One of Charlotte’s original 1925 streetcars is about to start running again, but more as a tourist attraction than actual transit (Spectrum News). In related news, the Washington Post also collected memories of D.C. streetcars.
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