Tuesday’s Headlines Let There Be Light
Lack of adequate lighting is the number one reason women cite for being afraid to walk or take transit at night, a new study says.
11:59 PM EDT on September 9, 2024
- Almost two-thirds of women feel unsafe walking after dark — twice the rate of men, according to an Australian study. Fear of being attacked in the dark is keeping women from walking, jogging or using transit, and the male-dominated transportation industry doesn’t always take those fears seriously. (The Guardian)
- The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy has a new online toolkit for walkable cities.
- The Federal Highway Administration is awarding $800 million in grants to road builders that use low-carbon construction materials. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Transit agencies across the country are looking to California as a model for tap-to-pay fare collection. (Route Fifty)
- Ramsey County, Minnesota, is scrapping plans for a $2.1 billion light rail line linking St. Paul to the Minneapolis airport and the Mall of America. (Star Tribune)
- Even if Charlotte officials convince a skeptical Republican-controlled legislature to let them hold a referendum on a transportation plan with reduced transit spending, skyrocketing construction costs are likely to put off voters, according to Governing magazine.
- A Kentucky Transportation Center study found that Louisville’s complete streets policy has been successful at reducing crashes. (WDRB)
- Wisconsin Public Radio interviewed a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee urban planning professor about Milwaukee’s successful traffic-calming program and how other cities can emulate it.
- The Houston city council is considering repealing an ordinance requiring developers to build sidewalks or pay into a sidewalk fund, saying it’s just resulted in sidewalks to nowhere. (KHOU)
- Pedestrian deaths are down in Oklahoma City, but the unhoused are at greater risk of being killed by drivers, and death rates remain high on faster suburban roads. (Free Press)
- Four Houston-area transit agencies are going fare-free on Fridays in September, the worst month for ozone pollution in the region. (Houston Public Media)
- University of Nebraska-Omaha students can now buy annual bikeshare passes for $5, a 95 percent discount. (The Gateway)
- The Oregon DOT has taken the unorthodox step of hiring a preacher to win over Portland’s mistrustful Black community on highway projects. (Willamette Week)
- A Texarkana couple that met on a group ride got married before 1,800 fellow cyclists at a Waco bike race. (KWTX)
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