Wednesday’s E-xcellent Headlines
Move over, Taylor Swift: this pundit says 2023 was the year of the e-bike.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on December 13, 2023
- Fast Company declared 2023 the Year of the E-Bike, with their “enticing cocktail” of low cost, convenience, health benefits and fun. Self-driving cars were a contender until their safety record took a hit, and high interest rates made continued investment iffy.
- On the other hand, two Engineering.com staffers took two rides in a Waymo and declared them perfectly safe, duh.
- More than any city outside of China, Bogotá tried to solve the traffic caused by a huge population influx with public transportation. But due to its own popularity, corruption and a lack of subsequent investment, this predecessor to modern bus rapid transit has struggled to live up to its potential. (New York Times)
- Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she is deliberately targeting the richest drivers by seeking to triple parking rates for SUVs in an effort to reduce emissions. A referendum will be held in February. (The Guardian)
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis visited Raleigh to tout the Biden administration’s $1 billion investment into service to Richmond. (ABC 11)
- If Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell wants the third time to be a charm, he’s going to have to rely on voters’ trust, because there isn’t much time to put together a plan before another transit referendum in November 2024. (Tennessee Lookout)
- Baltimore’s Red Line would connect Black working-class neighborhoods on the east side of the city with job-rich areas in the west. (Transit Center)
- Metro Cincinnati’s regional transportation body is proposing a referendum to give the city its fair share of representation on the board, based on population. (WCPO)
- Disabled advocates say Philadelphia’s new intercity bus terminal is a nightmare to navigate. (Inquirer)
- Landslides attributed to climate change are wreaking havoc on Southern California’s coastal rail corridors. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Velo caught up with Cambridge, Massachusetts — the first city in the U.S. to mandate protected bike lanes — and found that streets are safer, but the naysayers are still restless.
- In the latest instance of a driver using a vehicle as a weapon, a woman drove her Jeep into a group of “Israelis for Christ” gathered on a Billups street corner. (KTVQ)
- Carmel, Indiana may be the roundabout capitol of the world, but this Indianapolis plan for the I-65/I-70 interchange puts them to shame. (Star)
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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