Streetsblog
Are Friday’s Headlines Getting Across?
Too many roads look like this. Photo: Google Maps
By Blake Aued
- The national epidemic of traffic deaths is falling most heavily on Black and low-income Americans, partly because cities and states systematically built high-speed roadways through their neighborhoods. (New York Times)
- E-bike and e-scooter use is rebounding after a pandemic decline, according to an industry study (Smart Cities Dive). In related news, scooter-share Bird is expanding to Minneapolis, San Diego, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis and other cities, with an emphasis on college towns as fall semester starts (Mass Transit).
- Intercity bus travel is also starting to creep back up after dropping by half during the pandemic. (Smart Cities Dive)
- New tech startups want to work with cities to help them managing increasing competition for curb space. (NYT)
- Five U.S. cities that participated in the Final Mile program — Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence — built 335 miles of bike lanes in two years (Next City, Streetsblog USA). Impressive, but Paris is the GOAT of new bike-lane building (Pop Up City).
- The Los Angeles city council refused to pass a measure requiring the installation of bike and bus lanes whenever the city does road work, instead putting the issue before voters in 2024. (L.A. Times)
- A new coalition has formed to fight the Texas DOT's planned widening of a downtown Dallas interstate, as past groups that initiated the effort in 2013 have faded away. (D Magazine)
- Washington, D.C. regional planners have a goal of reducing car and truck emissions by 80 percent but still want to widen freeways. (Virginia Mercury)
- Experts say Wisconsin cities should lower speed limits and redesign streets after pedestrian deaths rose 8 percent in 2021. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
- Entitled Oakland drivers think they have a right to park on the sidewalk. (Oaklandside)
- TikTok says drivers have been parking wrong this whole time. (Yahoo! News)
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