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Thursday’s Headlines Want to Walk Safely

Pedestrian deaths spiked 11 percent in 2021, reaching their highest level in four decades, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EDT on May 26, 2022

Thursday’s Headlines Want to Walk Safely

Image: Jonathan McIntosh, CC

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A new estimate from the Governors Highway Safety Association found that U.S. drivers killed 7,485 pedestrians in 2021, the most in 40 years. (Transportation Today)
The National Association of City Transportation Officials is calling on the White House to strengthen the criteria for awarding coveted four- and five-star crash ratings to new cars, including evaluating how well the vehicles protect the people they hit, not just those inside. (Route Fifty)
Ford is testing geofencing as a way to automatically slow down cars when drivers exceed the speed limit. (Automotive World)
$2 billion in federal infrastructure funds are available for rural transit, but that may not be enough to meet the needs of the elderly and disabled in rural areas. (NBC News)
The BBC envisions a world without planes, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Texas DOT comes here not to remove I-345, but to bury it. Instead of knocking down the elevated Dallas freeway and replacing it with a boulevard, the agency wants to put it underground (D Magazine). However, Colorado and Oregon have abandoned similar urban freeway expansions in Denver and Portland (Streetsblog USA).
California is not doing enough to fund transit projects, writes a former state DOT and high-speed rail director. (Cal Matters)
Sacramento is allowing people who live in their vehicles to stay at a park-and-ride lot. (Bee)
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other key officials say they remain committed to light rail on the Beltline despite the lack of progress. (Saporta Report)
A new light rail line in Southern Maryland is starting to come together. (WTOP)
More people are using San Antonio’s bike-share since it switched to e-bikes. (News4SA)
Nashville bought a new street sweeper to keep bike lanes clear of debris. (WPLN)
Preliminary plans for redesigning Route 48 in Seattle don’t include a bus lane. (The Urbanist)
Anchorage spends the vast majority of its transportation budget on highway constructions and needs to do more to slow down drivers downtown. (Daily News)
Cedar Rapids is using CARES Act funds to lower fares to $1 and make buses free for seniors, children and low-income riders. (The Gazette)
Asheville unveiled a new master plan for greenways and sidewalks. (Citizen Times)
What are you doing today? Whatever the urban overplanner tells you to. (The Onion)

Blake Aued

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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