Streetsblog

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Scooting Away

E-scooters and bike-shares are back on a sharp upward trajectory after a brief dip in 2020, according to a new NACTO report.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on December 6, 2022

Cities think scooters are good now.

Micromobility quickly rebounded from an early-pandemic dip, with 112 million rides nationwide in 2021, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials. And cities are now better equipped to deal with the downsides of bike-shares and e-scooters by choosing operators carefully and imposing more restrictions on where they can be parked. (Fast Company)
The Federal Highway Administration’s Every Day Counts program is reaching beyond speeding up road projects to emphasize safety and cutting emissions across multiple modes. (City Lab)
Like France, several U.S. big-box retailers want to use their parking lots to generate clean energy. (CNBC)
An atheist group is complaining that Uber and Lyft allow Christian drivers to proselytize to their captive passengers. (Only Sky)
Hyundai’s new electric vehicle plant near Savannah should have been a bipartisan feather in Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s cap, but as he’s locked in a close runoff with Herschel Walker, Republicans won’t give him any credit (and the New York Times, somehow, is surprised.)
Electric cars will never replace mass transit because, to meet climate goals in a growing state like California, people are simply going to have to drive less. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
A long-awaited San Fernando Valley light rail project finally broke ground. (Lost Angeles Daily News)
Denver’s transit agency reports that riders stuck around after an August fare-free experiment drew them onboard. (Denver Post)
The Twin Cities’ Metro Transit keeps cutting and cutting and cutting. Something has to change. (MinnPost)
Texas DOT officials continue to blame the victims for pedestrians’ deaths while paying literal lip service to bad drivers. (Next City)
Bike lanes in Houston’s Third Ward will move forward with Mayor Sylvester Turner’s support despite the area council representative’s opposition. (Chronicle)
Here’s one reckless driver we can all agree is actually a very good boy. (KDFW)