Friday’s Headlines Slim Down

Narrower lanes make safer streets, and contrary to popular belief, yes, ambulances can still get through.

By Blake Aued

12:27 AM EDT on August 2, 2024

A road diet in Hillsboro, Va.

|Rethink 9

The best way to make streets safer is to make them narrower, according to a Johns Hopkins study published last year (Route Fifty) Streetsblog covered it back then, too. (Streetsblog USA) Another study by the University of Iowa found that road diets had no effect on emergency vehicle response times (Ars Technica).
Vox explains the concept of induced demand: When engineers widen highways, it reduces congestion at first. But then more people start driving, and before long traffic is just as bad as before, with more cars on the road.
Even when it tries, Caltrans is not very good at Complete Streets. (Cal Bikes)
The South Pasadena police force has become one of the first in the country to go all-electric. (Government Technology)
Cincinnati residents filed a civil rights complaint over the Brent Spence Bridge project, alleging it will harm minority and low-income neighborhoods. (WCPO)
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker ordered city workers back to the office, but thanks to pandemic-related transit cuts, it won't be easy for some of them to get there. (Governing)
Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority riders who participated in a WHYY focus group want more streamlined service.
Milwaukee killed a streetcar route designed to bring festival-goers to the lakefront, even though the new configuration increased ridership. (Urban Milwaukee)
A $400 million budget shortfall could force Vancouver's TransLink to cut bus service in half and eliminate express commuter rail. (Mass Transit)
A couple wrote to Miss Manners saying they're tired of being ridiculed for riding a tandem bike. (Washington Post)