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Friday’s Headlines Are on the Ballot

There's a decent chance you live in a jurisdiction where transit funding is on the ballot this November.

Nashville voters will soon decide whether to spend billions on a bus rapid transit network.

  • State and local ballot measures this November could add a total of $50 billion to transit funding, and such referendums have a high rate of success (Smart Cities Dive). That's important because most federal funding remains tilted toward driving (Transportation for America).
  • Humans have to take driver's tests. Why not autonomous vehicles, too? (Associated Press)
  • On the other hand, why do so many human jobs require a driver's license when driving is not part of the job description? (Governing)
  • Uber and Lyft drivers are banding together nationwide for better pay. (USA Today)
  • The Atlanta suburb of Cobb County has long resisted transit, but as it approaches 1 million people, maybe a $10 billion referendum to fund 108 miles of bus rapid transit will be different. (Atlanta Civic Circle)
  • Thirty-five years after a driver killed a Black child riding his bike to school near Durham, the community is still waiting for sidewalks. (Route Fifty)
  • After weeks of debate, the Dallas city council voted to fully fund the regional transit agency DART. (KERA)
  • Caltrans is seeking input on whether to remove a freeway stub that ostracized a Black Oakland neighborhood from the rest of the East Bay. (SFGATE)
  • Philadelphia is planning to add concrete-protected bike lanes to Center City, where the death of a doctor sparked calls for safety improvements. (CBS News)
  • A Nebraska state senator who's planning on running for mayor of Omaha is raising objections to the Omaha streetcar. (Nebraska Examiner)
  • Anchorage is trying to come to grips with its high number of pedestrian deaths. (Alaska Public Media)
  • In San Francisco, vintage Muni streetcars double as speakeasys (SFGATE), and jazz performers also appear on the Kansas City streetcar in October (Fox 4).

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