Thursday’s Headlines Have No Direction Home

• Transit agencies have found themselves unwittingly at the forefront of a homelessness crisis in the U.S., which is keeping some riders away due to perceptions that transit is unsafe. A new Transit Center report based on case studies from several cities offers alternatives to doubling down on policing, such as partnering with shelters and social service providers.
• Cities across the country are turning parking lots into safe havens for unhoused people who are forced to sleep in their cars. (Smart Cities Dive)
• Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Deluzio, both Democrats, have introduced a bill that would provide $200 billion over five years for high-speed rail, expanding passenger rail service and electrifying the most polluting rail lines.
• Prisoners, jail inmates and detained immigrants are particularly vulnerable to climate change-driven natural disasters. (Slate)
• Florida employers often cover it up when workers die of heat-related causes. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Startup Empower is competing with Uber and Lyft by undercutting them on price, but it’s operating illegally in Washington, D.C. in a throwback to the early Wild West days of ride-hailing apps. (New York Times)
• Our Streetsblog Chicago colleague John Greenfield suggests that Illinois divert federal “flex funds” from highways to transit to avoid a looming fiscal cliff.
• If the North Carolina legislature doesn’t allow metro Charlotte to move forward with a transportation sales tax referendum, there is no Plan B. (Observer)
• The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is overhauling its bus lines to provide more frequent service on the most popular routes. (AJC)
• New Orleans’ Riverfront streetcar will be out of service for two weeks due to vandalism and theft. (Times-Picayune)
• Drivers have killed 14 pedestrians in Anchorage this year, and top officials’ response is to push for recriminalizing jaywalking. (Daily News)
• Visitors to city centers who arrive by bike or on foot spend less than drivers, a Dutch study found, but they also visit more frequently, so they spend more per month. (Dutch Cycling)
• Greece is lowering speed limits on most urban streets from about 30 miles per hour to less than 20. (Ekathimerini)
• England’s equivalent of the U.S. surgeon general is in favor of 15-minute cities. (Forbes)

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