Thursday’s Headlines As We Move Ahead
- The U.S. Postal Service announced a contract to replace aging mail trucks (CNN). Some of them will run on gas, violating President Biden's pledge to electrify the federal fleet, although Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump holdover, was the one who made the decision (Bloomberg). The internet has been dunking all over the design, comparing it to everything from a duck to a Pixar character, but its low hood actually makes it much less likely to kill a pedestrian (Curbed).
- Despite losing $1.5 billion and 70,000 jobs during the pandemic, private bus companies have been left out of Democrats' latest coronavirus relief bill. (City Lab)
- The L.A. Metro could go fare-free for low-income riders and K-12 students in 2022. About 70 percent of regular passengers make less than $35,000 a year. (Urbanize)
- The Indiana Senate passed a bill that could scuttle transit agency IndyGo's plans for two bus rapid transit lines. (Indianapolis Star)
- Ridership on the Twin Cities' Metro Transit has fallen by more than half during the pandemic. Commuter rail took the biggest hit, while bus rapid transit fared best. (Star Tribune)
- The Dallas City Council tried to kill off a streetcar line to find money for repaving roads, but the city is too tied up in it. (D Magazine)
- Startup Motional says it successfully tested the first autonomous car without a backup driver in Las Vegas. (The Hill)
- A mobility-tracking project in Portland has been shelved because Google spinoff Replica would not share detailed enough data with the city. (BBC)
- The feds have started reviewing Pittsburgh’s Oakland-downtown bus rapid transit line. (Post-Gazette)
- Another reason to hate Chick-Fil-A, besides its track record on LGBTQ issues: The fast-food chain’s huge drive-through lines are causing traffic jams. (Business Insider)
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