Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Friday’s Headlines Slim Down

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

Rethink 9|

A road diet in Hillsboro, Va.

  • 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)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Back the Bikes

Setting aside the fact that bike lanes don't make traffic worse, resisting bikelash on busy roads is essential to creating a useable network.

April 18, 2025

Does Driver’s Ed Really Make Roads Safer? 

States like Georgia are taking a critical look at their drivers education programs — but some say the whole concept of driver's ed deserves scrutiny.

April 18, 2025

Friday Video: Ken Jennings Has a Web Series About Transit!

Jeopardy's host and most famous player is a big fan of the bus — and he's helping educate his fellow Washingtonians about why they should be, too.

April 18, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: The Pacific Circuit

Alexis Madrigal connects containerization to globalization and its direct impacts on one Oakland neighborhood.

April 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Wonder Why

Why are drivers killing so many pedestrians? Governing magazine has a number of familiar theories.

April 17, 2025
See all posts