Thursday’s Headlines Walk on By

Giving more space to walking and biking is one of the keys to reversing climate change, a new study finds.

By Blake Aued

12:01 AM EST on February 29, 2024

The number of pedestrian deaths in the U.S. fell by 4 percent in the first half of 2023, but at 3,373 remains significantly higher than before the pandemic. One expert told NPR that more cities have embraced Vision Zero since the spike, but safety improvements were at least partially offset by bigger and heavier vehicles. Streetsblog also covered the new statistics, pointing out that it was still the second-most dangerous year for walkers since the 80s.
With a fleet of affordable electric vehicles to sell Western drivers, China is coming for the Big Three automakers. (New York Times)
Apple has given up trying to make an electric car. (The Guardian)
To stay below two degrees of global warming, people are going to have to drive less, and cities must reallocate space for cars to walking, biking and transit, in addition to EVs and clean energy, according to an International Council on Clean Transportation study. (Transport Matters)
Albuquerque launched an EV carshare with rates of $5 of an hour or $50 a day, with discounts for low-income individuals. (Transportation Today)
Workers are being forced to wade through toxic sludge to build Elon Musk's pointless Las Vegas tunnel. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Firefighters contend a Los Angeles complete streets ballot measure would cost lives by slowing down fire trucks. But drivers killed 336 people in L.A. last year, compared to 14 who died in fires. (California Planning & Development Report)
Tech bros now want to add a train to their California Forever dream city, which came under criticism for being a walker's paradise but requiring a car to leave. (Fast Company)
Bike ridership inexplicably fell in Portland between 2014 and 2022, but now it's picking back up again. (Axios)
D.C.'s Capital Bikeshare recorded almost a quarter-million rides in January. (Greater Greater Washington)
A Canadian environmental group has a plan to double transit ridership and cut carbon emissions by 65 million tons. (Policy Options)
China's new dragon-themed drill will help dig what's arguably the world's longest high-speed rail tunnel. (Business Insider)