Wednesday’s Headlines Highlight Public Health

An epidemiologist explains how to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and more in today's headlines.

By Blake Aued

12:34 AM EST on December 4, 2024

Flexposts are not good enough, according to a Drexel professor who researches bike injuries. Photo: Google Maps.

An injury epidemiologist in Philadelphia shares his recipe for safer streets: fewer cars, better transit, slower traffic and separating cars from bikes with physical barriers. (The Conversation)
High housing costs are pushing people out of cities and into sprawling, car-centric rural communities. (NBC News)
Los Angeles officials are using Donald Trump's penchant for spectacle to request $3.2 billion from the incoming administration for Olympics transportation projects. (L.A. Times)
The Biden administration gave struggling electric automaker Rivian a $6 billion to move ahead with a new plant in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
San Francisco's Prop K closing the Great Highway to car traffic was just the latest front in a long-running war between urban and suburban voters. (Standard)
The St. Louis Metro hired 100 bus drivers, increased frequency and rearranged 25 routes to get people riding again after COVID. (St. Louis Public Radio)
WYPR interviewed the head of the Maryland Transit Administration about budget cuts and post-COVID ridership.
Charlotte's first commuter rail line will not serve low-income neighborhoods where residents depend on transit the most, instead skipping ahead to more affluent suburbs. (Observer)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board calls for a permanent state source of funding for Pennsylvania transit.
Oregon lawmakers will face a challenge keeping the state DOT solvent in 2025. (BikePortland)
Denver has not followed through on its promise to build more protected bike lanes. (Westword)
Capital Bikeshare is going strong within the District of Columbia, but can it be expanded to the region? (Greater Greater Washington)
Pay your fare, take off your backpack, don't put your phone on speaker: The Seattle Times collected those light-rail rules of etiquette and more from Sound Transit riders.
KCUR has tips for Kansas City residents to request traffic-calming measures from the city.