Friday’s Heavy Metal Headlines
Fatalities are seven times higher when a vehicle collides with a large pickup truck as opposed to a compact car, according to The Economist.
By
Blake Aued
12:56 AM EDT on September 20, 2024
- Feeling safer driving a huge SUV is a luxury available only to the rich, and there are diminishing returns. According to The Economist, for each life saved by being inside one of the heaviest vehicles in a crash, a dozen lives are lost. (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
- Drivers who use Tesla’s Autopilot and similar technology are distracted about 30 percent of the time instead of keeping their hands on the wheel like they’re supposed to, according to a study by MIT and the insurance industry. (Quartz)
- Autonomous vehicles don’t actually drive themselves — because they need fleets of engineers on standby to take over if necessary. (Jalopnik)
- The price tag for a new West Seattle light rail line has ballooned from $2.3 billion in 2016 to about $7 billion now, meaning Sound Transit can no longer afford to build it without new funding. (Seattle Times)
- Houston buses are late a third of the time, which makes it even harder for riders who are already facing two-hour commutes to get to work. (Landing)
- Denver’s transit agency is kicking Greyhound out of its Union Station bus terminal because it says the company keeps abandoning buses and passengers. (Denverite)
- The Regional Transportation District could cut costs and boost ridership on a Denver-Boulder-Longmont light rail line by partnering with a nearby agency working on a Pueblo-Fort Collins line. (Colorado Public Radio)
- Dallas officials are split between wanting to fully fund DART and those who support restructuring the regional transit agency to cut funding. (KERA)
- A Philadelphia bill would raise fines for drivers who block bike lanes. (CBS News)
- NEXT Pittsburgh details the auto industry and early motorists’ war on pedestrians, with a local twist.
- Paris is simplifying transit fares so that any bus, subway or train ride in the city or region will cost a little less than $3. (Connexion)
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to ban cars from the famed Oxford Street shopping district, which he says will revitalize the area and encourage spending. (The Guardian)
- When London restricted polluting vehicles around schools, kids started to walk and bike more. (Grist)
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
Inside Baseball: Kuntzman To Step Down At Streetsblog; David Meyer To Take Over
Streetsblog's longtime editor will take on new challenges. And so will his successor.
October 9, 2026
Friday Video(s): Two Urban Cycling Trips Worth Taking
Choose your own urban cycling adventure: domestic or international edition.
October 9, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Pay a Lot for Parking
The average apartment-dweller pays $200 a month for a parking space, included in their rent, whether they use it or not.
October 9, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Long Road to Real Transit Progress
Jeff Wood and Reece Martin discuss China’s lessons for American infrastructure.
October 8, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Are Another Front in the Culture War
David Zipper explains how transportation, once an issue with broad consensus, became politically polarized.
October 8, 2026
