Tuesday’s Headlines, Post-Christmas Edition

• Bird may be going bankrupt, but micromobility trips are still on the rise, making the service increasingly indispensable to cities, paving the way for subsidized or city-owned bike- and scooter-shares. (The Verge)
• Cumbersome city permitting threatens a Biden administration program to add millions of new electric vehicle chargers nationwide. (Route Fifty)
• Government Technology has a searchable database on which cities are running electric buses.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the U.S. DOT seeking to overturn a federal requirement that states produce plans to reduce carbon emissions. (Washington Post)
• The northwest Phoenix light rail extension is set to open in January, two years ahead of schedule. (KTAR)
• Maryland transit officials are exploring options for a new light rail line connecting Baltimore and Towson. (CBS News)
• Baltimore light rail resumed service on Saturday after a two-week suspension for safety inspections. (Sun)
• Dallas Area Rapid Transit is one of the few agencies to put a dent in its staffing shortage by raising salaries and streamlining hiring. (Transit Center)
• Fast-growing Utah is in a good position to take advantage of state and federal funding to create more walking, biking and transit options. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Lancaster, California, revitalized its downtown, creating 800 jobs and a $273 million economic impact, by turning its main street from a stroad into a tree-lined boulevard. (SFGate)
• Data suggests that merchants on San Francisco’s Valencia Street are wrong when they claim a new bike lane is responsible for a dip in business. (Mission Local)
• The Basque city of Vitoria-Gasteiz was decades ahead of its time, even for Europe, in discouraging driving in favor of walking and biking. (The Guardian)
• About 12 percent of Oulu, Finland’s winter trips are by bike, even though the city is blanketed with snow five months a year. (BBC)

source https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/12/26/tuesdays-headlines-post-christmas-edition