Streetsblog

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Not an Accident

Train-car collisions can be tragic, but they're not accidents when everyone knows the crossings are unsafe.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EDT on June 28, 2022

An Amtrak train hit a dump truck and derailed in Missouri, killing three people and injuring 50 (CNN). In a separate incident, three people died when an Amtrak train hit a car at an unguarded intersection in California, prompting transpo writer Jessie Singer to remind the New York Times that you can’t really call it an “accident” when it happens once or twice a year.
Transportation planners are not doing a good job of convincing the public that people should drive less. (Route Fifty)
Conservatives are piling on to President Biden’s desperate attempts to lower gas prices, pointing out the hypocrisy when compared to his stance on climate change. (City Journal)
With new gas-powered car sales set to be banned in Europe, Canada and California by 2035, some cities are taking the next step of banning new gas stations as well. (The Guardian)
The Boston Globe calls for a new “Big Dig” to expand the city’s transit system.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that railroad companies like Texas Central, which is trying to build a high-speed line between Houston and Dallas, can use eminent domain to acquire land. (Community Impact)
Portland is rejoining talks on the Rose Quarter I-5 project to ensure it benefits Black neighborhoods decimated by urban renewal. (Mercury)
In Seattle, ride-hailing has fallen even further than transit ridership. (The Urbanist)
Cyclists feel safer in downtown Reno thanks to new protected bike lanes, but drivers don’t care. (News & Review)
Rural transit is a lifeline for Mississippians who can’t drive. (Mississippi Public Broadcasting)
Jason Ravnsborg, the South Dakota attorney general who killed a man in a 2020 hit-and-run crash, has been impeached and removed from office. (Politico)
A Washington, D.C. man was sentenced to 20 years for shooting a woman and her child who told him not to park a scooter in a bike lane. (Washington Times)
Sarasota police caught and arrested a driver who frequently uses the sidewalk to avoid rush-hour traffic. (Fox 13)

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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