Thursday’s Headlines Are Roadkill
Slate lays out how humans are driving many species to extinction — literally — including possibly ourselves.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on May 30, 2024
- Drivers kill more than a million vertebrates a year in the U.S. alone, contributing to an ongoing human-caused mass extinction event. The carnage doesn’t bode well for humans, either. (Slate)
- AI has been widely hailed as an important new tool for transportation planning, but Traffic Technology Today warns it’s only as good as the information it’s fed.
- A New York Magazine profile of Pete Buttigieg mainly faults him for airlines’ failures during his tenure as transportation secretary, while also dinging him for not doing more to make roads safer despite his embrace of Vision Zero and the position’s limited power.
- The U.S. DOT awarded Safe Streets and Roads for All grants to 99 communities, just a portion of the $5 billion included in the Biden administration’s 2021 infrastructure law. (Governing)
- The Federal Transportation Administration awarded $343 million in grants to transit agencies in eight states for upgrading stations, with a focus on improving access for the disabled. (Trains)
- Houston Mayor John Whitmire is slamming the brakes on his predecessor’s road safety projects in the sprawling, car-centric city, which had the third-most traffic deaths in the country last year. (City Lab)
- In a two-part series, MinnPost looks back at the Minneapolis Green Line on its 10th-year anniversary.
- Uber and Lyft alternatives are still prepared to enter the Twin Cities market even though the ride-hailing giants are no longer leaving. (Pioneer Press)
- Except for children, Denver’s Regional Transportation District won’t provide free transit rides this summer as it’s done during the past two ozone seasons, with officials citing a limited impact and lack of funds. (Colorado Public Radio)
- Drivers have already killed 12 people in Oahu so far this year. (KHON)
- Sound Transit covers 53 Seattle-area jurisdictions, and a proposal its board is considering would stop local governments from foisting costs onto the regional agency. (The Urbanist)
- A Michigan man was shocked to find out he’d told on himself when he dialed into a Zoom hearing for driving on a suspended license while behind the wheel. (Twitter)
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.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday Video: Take Transit to the World Cup … If You Can Afford It
Why are some cities forced to charge high fares to World Cup visitors who want to take the train, while others are giving away rides nearly for free?
May 1, 2026
Good Public Transit + Good Public Funding = Good Public Health
Transit agencies need to do more to remind policy makers of the connection between good public transportation and good public health, a report argues.
May 1, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Walk Warily
Don't be fooled by declining statistics. Walking in the U.S. is still too dangerous.
May 1, 2026
Boston’s New Climate Plan Is At Odds With Boston’s New Transportation Policies
Mayor Wu's climate plan calls on the city to cut traffic and "transform" its transportation system, but City Hall leadership is cancelling and delaying projects that would actually accomplish those goals.
April 30, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Logistics of Package Delivery
Benjamin Fong on out how e-commerce companies like Amazon have built their logistics systems and the difficulty of last-mile delivery.
April 30, 2026
