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Thursday’s Headlines Will Never Mislead You

The U.S. DOT's statistics downplay the role of dangerous street designs in traffic deaths, says a top federal safety official.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on January 20, 2022

Thursday’s Headlines Will Never Mislead You

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy. Official NTSB photo.

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, accused the Biden administration of continuing to share a pervasive and misleading statistic that attributes almost all crashes to driver error, rather than bad road design and policy. (Associated Press)
Amtrak is temporarily cutting service due to employees coming down with Omicron. (New York Times)
Police have an incentive to hand out speeding tickets because most states use the revenue to fund criminal justice, creating a hardship for drivers who can’t afford to pay. (Route Fifty)
Equity conversations around transportation often leave out people who can’t drive or can’t afford a car. (City Observatory)
Two self-driving shuttle companies went bankrupt last week, but the technology still holds long-term promise even if it’s not profitable yet. (Forbes)
The Philadelphia Inquirer calls on Pennsylvania lawmakers to upgrade public transit.
The growing popularity of drive-throughs during the pandemic is crimping Charlotte’s plans to become more walkable. (Axios)
Pinellas County, Florida officials want to cut pedestrian and cyclist deaths, which nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021. (St. Pete Catalyst)
Drivers have already killed two Hartford pedestrians this year, which matches the total for all of 2017. (Courant)
Cincinnati is updating its bike plan for the first time in 12 years. (WVXU)
Uncleared sidewalks are forcing Cleveland pedestrians to walk in the street. (News 5)
The Georgia DOT was going to install bike lanes on a busy Athens street, then removed them from its plans. (Flagpole)
D.C. Metro General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld is retiring. (DCist)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is floating a plan to charge motorists across the entire city based on time of journey, distance traveled and destination. He said the city needs to cut car trips by a quarter to meet 2030 emissions targets. (The Guardian)
Prague is offering free shared bike rides to residents who have a transit pass. (Expat)

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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