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Friday’s Headlines Wonder if Fare-Free Is Fair

As big cities ponder making buses fare-free, there could be unintended consequences if they continuing charging for trains.

By Blake Aued

12:00 AM EST on December 23, 2022

Friday’s Headlines Wonder if Fare-Free Is Fair

Image: Creative Commons

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Making buses fare-free while continuing to charge for trains could prove counterproductive for transit agencies if it merely lures cost-conscious riders away from trains and onboard buses instead, writes transit consultant Jarrett Walker. (City Lab)
In some good news on the bike safety front for a change, a new study found that cycling-related injuries are declining even as biking became more popular during the pandemic. (Bicycling)
At least 119 people died riding e-bikes and scooters between 2017 and 2021, according to a federal study, which sounds bad but pales in comparison to the tens of thousands killed in cars each year. (Click 2 Houston)
Seattle’s Sound Transit received $538 million in the 2023 federal omnibus appropriations bill for the Lynnwood and Federal way light rail extensions. (KIRO)
Seattle officials hope a revived streetcar project could help downtown recover from the pandemic. (The Urbanist)
Developers are grabbing up land along the route of Kansas City’s streetcar extension. (Kansas City Mag)
Boston parents are tired of their kids taking their lives into their own hands crossing an intersection where construction is backing up traffic and blocking crosswalks. (NBC Boston)
Pennsylvania’s gas tax will rise slightly Jan. 1 to pay for road and bridge maintenance. (Philly Voice)
Cycling Tips reviews the biking sitch in four U.S. cities: pretty good in New York, Chicago and San Francisco; not so much in Los Angeles.
He’s a not-so-silent guardian, a watchful protector: Streetsblog’s own Gersh Kuntzman is the star of a New York Times article on the uncaped crusaders who spend their evenings fixing the obscured license plates of drivers trying to avoid tolls and traffic cameras.

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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