Wednesday’s Headlines Are Cited Less
Cities are rightfully worried about overpolicing and disproportionate traffic enforcement against people of color, but it may come with a cost.
By
Blake Aued
12:00 AM EDT on April 12, 2023
- Traffic citations are down by 86 percent in Seattle compared to 2019, which some blame for a spike in deaths. Law enforcement departments are shorthanded, and cities are banning “pretext” stops that expose drivers of color to police violence. (NPR)
- Companies like Uber and DoorDash are exploiting their drivers — and so are the customers. (New York Times)
- NASA is starting to measure air pollution from space, which will provide data that ground-based instruments can’t detect. (Wired)
- Two new studies indicated that Southern U.S. cities like Miami and New Orleans are in even greater peril from climate change than previously thought. (The Guardian)
- Adherents to the #VanLife movement that took off during the pandemic are extremely environmentally conscious (Bloomberg). But how good for the environment can it really be to live in a vehicle?
- The Houston Metro approved a route for the 25-mile University Corridor bus rapid transit line without buy-in from some of the minority neighborhoods it will pass through. (Chronicle)
- Kansas City is applying for Missouri state tax credits to build a park over the South Loop freeway. (KCUR)
- A federal appeals court ordered Chicago to install audible crosswalk signals, ruling that visual signs discriminate against the sight-impaired. (NBC Chicago)
- Milwaukee bikeshare Bublr is advocating for more protected bike lanes. (CBS 58)
- A Chicago program helps students from disadvantaged communities find employment as bike mechanics. (CBS News)
- Sounds like the Chicago Transit Authority needs to take a mental health day for some self-care. (The Onion)
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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