Monday’s Headlines: Et Tu, Anne Hidalgo?
Or shall we say, e scoot? A Paris vote to ban e-scooters dredged up all the old bad feelings about the devices.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on April 3, 2023
- By a nine-to-one margin, Paris voters banned e-scooters Sunday in a referendum that was backed by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, a strong biking and pedestrian advocate (The Guardian). But the verdict wasn’t as overwhelming as it sounds, with only 7 percent of voters participating, many motivated by anti-tourist sentiments (DW). Others were concerned about scooter riders weaving in and out of traffic and dodging pedestrians at high speeds (BBC).
- Neither casting individual drivers as villains nor tactical urbanism are the answer to making cycling safe. Politicians must be held accountable for recognizing the right to ride a bike safely and designing streets that uphold that right. (The Nation)
- As Nicholas Dagen Bloom writes in his new book “The Great American Transit Disaster,” it doesn’t take a conspiracy theory to explain decades of disinvestment in transit. (Governing)
- Drivers killed 101 pedestrians in Massachusetts last year, compared to 75 in 2021. (Boston Globe)
- The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will move forward with a controversial streetcar extension to Ponce City Market. (AJC)
- Vexed by poor soil and tribal opposition, Sound Transit continues to mull routes for the Federal Way light rail extension in Seattle. (Mirror)
- They may not be able to agree on whether to include light rail, but Washington state officials can agree that the new I-5 bridge should be tolled. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- A fare-free transit pilot program in Connecticut is ending, which Gov. Ned LaMont blamed on a federal requirement to do an equity study. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
- In a reversal of previous statements, Charlotte’s city manager now says he was told of a 2022 light rail derailment but missed the text. (WFAE)
- Milwaukee’s new WisGo program will cap fares for transit riders and provide seamless transfers. (Smart Cities World)
- Temple University hosted a forum for mayoral candidates to discuss mobility. (Temple News)
- It’s a long drive deep to left … until the L.A. Metro provides a free express bus route to Dodger Stadium. (Spectrum News)
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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