Monday’s ‘Holiday’ Headlines

Sure, some people take this particular Monday in October off, but we don’t. So let’s get started with the weekend roundup:

• Automobile advertising pushes oversized and dangerous vehicles and glorifies unsafe driving. It should be regulated, just like cigarette and pharmaceutical ads. (Mobility Lab)
• Uber is using its mobile app to push Prop 22, ride-hailing companies’ effort to overturn a California labor law aimed at gig workers. (Los Angeles Times)
• Bird and other bike- and scooter-shares are giving free rides to the polls on Election Day. (Smart Cities Dive)
• Lyft has a deal with medical records company Epic allowing health-care workers to reserve a non-emergency ride for patients. (Forbes)
• E-scooter company Lime is now including e-bike startup Wheels in its app. (The Verge)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s move to ban gas-burning cars by 2035 is just the latest skirmish in California’s long-running war with automakers, dating back to tailpipe emission regulations in the 1970s. The auto industry is skeptical that consumers want EVs or that the electric grid can handle millions of them. (Governing)
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pledged to revive the Bottineau Blue Line, scuttled after a failure to secure right-of-way from a private railroad. (Star-Tribune)
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is coming around to a bullet train between Houston and Dallas. (Morning News)
• The Austin Monitor asked city council candidates where they stand on the Project Connect transit referendum.
• Plans are in the works for a more walkable Richmond Highway now that Amazon is building its second headquarters in Crystal City. (DCist)
• Portland approved plans for bike lanes and pedestrian improvements on Naito Avenue. (Willamette Week)
• King County Metro is teaming up with ride-hailing company Spare for a microtransit pilot project in Seattle’s Crossroads neighborhood. (Metro Magazine)
• A new app lets San Francisco pedestrians broadcast their position to self-driving cars using their phones. (SF Weekly)
• Finally, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is doing something about the sidewalks, er something like that. (The Onion)