Look What You Made Friday’s Headlines Do
There are lots of reasons why drivers kill so many pedestrians in the U.S., and Taylor Swift may be one of them.
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on April 17, 2026
- Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. are falling slightly but remain far higher than in other countries. Lots of reasons for this have been proposed — car bloat, roadway design, lighting, distracted drivers — but one prominent engineering professor who studies the issue says it’s all of the above. (CityLab)
- Speaking of distracted drivers, a Harvard study found that crashes jump 15 percent on the day a major new album like Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” drops. (New York Times, Jalopnik)
- Transit advocates call President Trump’s proposed 2027 budget “a dramatic step backward” for passenger rail. It would cut funding by 82 percent, and cut Amtrak’s funding by 13 percent. (Smart Cities Dive)
- Transportation for America likes a Democratic bill that would establish goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, but opposes House Republicans’ efforts to institute an electric vehicle fee and give states more leeway to spend grant money on highways.
- The ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee says a bipartisan agreement on a new funding bill will have to include safety and transit. (Transport Topics)
- A new group called the Urban Truth Collective is fighting back against misinformation about bike lanes and traffic calming (Momentum), like concerns circulating in Milwaukee, where neighborhood residents are opposed to replacing parking with bike lanes on Sherman Boulevard (Journal Sentinel).
- By the early 2030s, Amtrak could start a new line connecting Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh, and another connecting Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. (WOSU)
- Only half of Charlotte bus and light rail riders pay fares, costing the Charlotte Area Transit Authority $3 million to $5 million a year. (WBTV)
- Uber launched an ad campaign against a proposed $1 rideshare fee in Philadelphia. (WHYY)
- Portland is considering charging utilities more when they tear up streets and putting the money toward street maintenance. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- A Seattle city council member is calling for an audit of Vision Zero because SDOT is nowhere near meeting its 2030 goal. (Seattle Bike Blog)
- Voters in Beaumont, Texas approved a $58 million bond initiative to build sidewalks. (12 News Now)
- The fast-growing Northwest Arkansas region has embraced New Urbanism. (CNU Public Square)
- A Washington, D.C. theater troupe is performing “A Streetcar Named Desire” at an actual former streetcar station. (City Paper)
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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