Wednesday’s Headlines Have Good News and Bad News
Traffic deaths are back down to their pre-pandemic levels, but there is still much work left to be done.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on April 8, 2026
- The good news: Traffic deaths fell by 6.7 percent last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The bad news: Drivers still killed 36,640 people. (Smart Cities Dive).
- The Governor’s Highway Safety Association, meanwhile, estimates an 11 percent drop in pedestrian deaths for the first half of 2025 — but that still amounts to over 3,000 people killed. For anyone who doesn’t particularly care about human lives, the economic impact was at least $40 billion. (Streetsblog USA)
- If all the SUVs in the world were compared to countries, the People’s Republic of Third-Row Seating would be the fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. (Transport Matters)
- Home Depot’s last-mile delivery problem can’t be solved by robots or the gig economy, so it presents an opportunity to unionize human labor. (Phenomenal World)
- A University of Utah study confirms that tailpipe emissions standards are improving air quality.
- Salt Lake City will allow the demolition of three city-owned buildings to make way for the S-Line streetcar. (Building Salt Lake)
- A nonprofit serving the Atlanta Beltline — a popular walking and biking trail looping that’s been accused of causing gentrification — is on track to exceed its affordable housing goal. (Saporta Report)
- The U.S. DOT has committed $600 million toward replacing the Delaware River Bridge. No word on any potential bike, transit or pedestrian facilities. (Transportation Today)
- Portland created a zero-emissions pilot program downtown that revealed important information about who’s using valuable curb space. (Government Technology)
- A breakdown among Eugene, Oregon bike organizations could lead to the coalition losing their already dilapidated building. (Lookout)
- The Colorado Sun acknowledges that the state’s intercity bus service Bustang is popular and essential, so why question its return on investment purely in the form of fares?
- In the 1960s, we were promised flying cars. Almost 100 before then, we were promised moving sidewalks. What happened? (Popular Science)
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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