Friday’s Headlines Dodge Death
Thankfully, traffic deaths have started to fall. But cars and drivers are still killing too many people. Why?
By
Blake Aued
12:04 AM EDT on April 25, 2025
- Traffic deaths dropped below 40,000 last year for the first time since 2020, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Smart Cities Dive). That’s still a lot, but is the problem poor road design, bigger vehicles, lack of enforcement, drivers who are still angry about the pandemic, or some combination? (Governing)
- For-profit shared mobility tends to favor the wealthy and the able-bodied. Nonprofits can help fill that gap. (Smithsonian Magazine)
- Lime is rolling out 10,000 new e-bikes and e-scooters to its networks in Europe and the U.S. (Electrek)
- Lyft — a company founded to disrupt the taxi industry — is now offering taxi rides. (The Information)
- David Zipper profiles a car YouTuber who’s advocating for more walkable cities. (Bloomberg)
- The Inglewood people-mover connecting the Los Angeles Metro to several entertainment destinations is now on hold (Railway Gazette) but may be reworked as bus rapid transit (KTLA).
- Car crashes in San Francisco cost not only lives, but money, according to a new city report — $2.5 billion over a five-year period between 2018 and 2022. (Mission Local)
- Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert is trying to scrap her home state’s Front Range passenger rail project. (RT&S)
- Colorado is the latest state Uber is threatening to leave if the state enacts regulations. (Sun)
- Philadelphia is embracing roundabouts as a quick-build solution to dangerous intersections (WHYY). And its Indego bikeshare system turned 10 years old (Axios).
- Seattle is finally closing off the Pike Place Market to most traffic, at least to see how it works. (The Urbanist)
- A new MARTA app helps Atlanta transit riders plan the most efficient trip. (AJC)
- Laredo adopted a $33 million plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2040. (Morning Times)
- Almost all the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel readers who responded to a survey said that sidewalks are highly important.
- “The Drag,” a major road in Austin separating the city from the University of Texas, is about to come full circle as a light-rail route. (Daily Texan)
- Gas stations in general suck, but you have to admit some of the early and mid-modern ones are pretty cool-looking. (Arch Daily)
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.
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