Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog

Thursday’s Headlines Reap What We Sowed

A Detroit family walks down a street with no sidewalks.

|Joel Kurth/Bridge Michigan.
    • Cyclist and pedestrian deaths have skyrocketed in the U.S. over the past 20 years — an anomaly among developed nations — and the victims are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. For decades governments prioritized wide roads in poor and minority neighborhoods that outsiders can speed through, and neglected to invest in safety. (New York Times)
    • Two-mile long freight trains often block intersections for hours, requiring children who walk to school to risk their lives climbing over a train that could start at any time or stay home. (ProPublica)
    • Automakers pretty much refuse to sell small cars and trucks in the U.S., believing Americans don't want them. So rural farmers are importing tiny pickups from Japan. (The Economist; paywall)
    • "Desire paths" trampled by people where there are no paved paths help urban planners understand how to build better public spaces. (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
    • California transit agencies and sympathetic legislators unveiled a five-year, $5 billion budget proposal to keep transit from going over a fiscal cliff. (CalMatters)
    • The Culver City council removed a protected bike lane from a downtown safety pilot program that was widely watched in the L.A. region. (LAist)
    • The "pause" on Philadelphia's King of Prussia rail line is also an opportunity to draw riders back by improving existing transit service. (Governing)
    • Gov. Maura Healey hired the Massachusetts DOT's first-ever chief safety officer. (Boston Herald)
    • Miami planners are floating a plan to turn U.S. Highway 1 into a boulevard with traffic calming measures and a bike path. (Miami Today)
    • A light rail crash near Denver in March was likely caused by the operator falling asleep, according to a state investigation. (Colorado Public Radio)
    • A Charlotte Magazine writer tried riding the bus and found it slow and frustrating, as did many of her fellow passengers.
    • Lisbon is the latest city to ban car traffic through downtown, if only temporarily. (City Lab)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The Utopia of London’s Low-Traffic Neighborhoods

Streetsfilms follows an urban planner around the “low-traffic neighborhood” of St. Peter’s in the London borough of Islington.

November 7, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Got Lucky

Crash data doesn't nearly capture the near misses cyclists have to endure.

November 7, 2025

San Diego Is Latest California City to Welcome Waymo

The Alphabet-owned company announced plans to begin mapping city streets and launching limited operations sometime next year — but whether that move will help advance San Diego’s safety and climate goals remains to be seen.

November 6, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Why Are We Going Backwards?

A very special discussion about why America keeps building highways, how President Trump is targeting transit and how we can all get a better federal transportation bill if we want it.

November 6, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Won Big

It was a good day for transit on Election Day Tuesday.

November 6, 2025

Transit Wins Big Again In Local Elections Across America

Several candidates who ran on ambitious transportation reform platforms won at the ballot box on Tuesday — but even more communities said yes to supporting transit directly.

November 6, 2025
See all posts