Welcome to the week.
Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers came across in the past seven days…
Process or progress?*: An op-ed from Streetsblog Mass is very relevant to Portland and it touched off a firestorm when its author criticized the approach of northern European cities because they don’t engage enough with marginalized communities. (*Yes, I realize it’s not either/or.)
Free transit: There’s a growing movement for fare-free transit in Canada as environmental activists see it as the bedrock of a Green New Deal.
Make driving expensive: The effort to impose congestion pricing in New York City took a major step forward as the project’s environmental assessment turned up great news for supporters of the plan.
When speeding is impossible: New York City has taken a very exciting step toward safer streets by installing speed limiting technology in their fleet vehicles. Hopefully other cities follow suit (good morning Commissioner Hardesty!).
Freeway fight pioneers: OPB has a must-read piece on transportation activism that chronicles the wonderful work of former Earl Blumenauer police staffer Meeky Blizzard (hi Meeky!) and her work in the 1990s to fight freeway expansion in Washington County.
Car culture consequence: A woman who sped through a Los Angeles intersection and killed five people in a fiery crash had 13 prior wrecks on her record and is now charged with murder.
Get your money: Two veteran safe streets advocates (Melissa Balmer and Leah Shahum) shares insights on Streetsblog about how to tap into a new $1 billion federal grant program that can fund vision zero and complete streets projects.
Broader laws are better: The International Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) researched cellphone laws and found that states with laws that cover a broader range of behaviors had fewer rear-end crashes.
Not exactly “lazy”: Newly published research compared physical activity in electric bike riders to non e-bike riders and found that due to increased travel distances there’s not much difference in how much exercise they get.
Jargon-free zone: Check out this explainer from BikeRadar that seeks to demystify all the jargon used to explain bike parts and components.
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week!