Tuesday’s Headlines Aren’t Falling Fast Enough

Pedestrian deaths dropped by 4 percent last year, but remain well above pre-pandemic figures.

By Blake Aued

12:27 AM EDT on July 15, 2025

Photo: PxHere

Drivers killed more than 7,000 pedestrians in the U.S. last year, down slightly for the second year in a row but still alarmingly high — 20 percent higher than 2016 and almost twice as many as in 2009. The majority of crashes happened at night and in areas with no sidewalks, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Other factors include speeding and bigger vehicles. (Smart Cities Dive, Streetsblog USA)
Rolling Stone has another article on how President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is a big gift to the fossil fuel industry. The bill will also incentivize gas-guzzling engines (Automotive News; paywall)
Since Trump signed the bill, which rolls back incentives for buying electric vehicles, automakers have started delaying or canceling new EV models. (The Verge)
Rural hospitals are closing, and more than 1 million rural households don't own a car, making federal funding for rural transit more important than ever. (Transportation for America)
Automated speed cameras remain dogged by accusations that they're more about revenue than safety. (TTI)
Uber is now sponsoring the 2026 Olympic Games, and the host city of Los Angeles has yet to find a transit partner, casting doubt on whether the games will even be "transit first," let alone "car-free" like organizers initially promised. (Torched)
A Boston construction mogul hates bike lanes so much that he's willing to spend $1 million opposing a second term for Mayor Michelle Wu. (Bloomberg)
Maryland's Purple Line is an opportunity to show how to build transit projects without displacing current residents. (National League of Cities)
A Florida man was arrested for driving 104 miles per hour just two minutes after the state's new super-speeder law took effect. (Jalopnik)
Amtrak turned to an irreverent social media campaign to get Gen Z to ride the train instead of flying. (Fast Company)