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Can Uber-like Public Transit Replace Old-Fashioned Buses?
Shudiara McMillian doesn’t have a car and relies on city transit in Wilson, North Carolina, to get wherever she needs to go, whether it’s to work or shopping or a medical appointment. Until about two years ago, that could mean a long wait at a bus stop because the city’s buses ran only once an […]
States Post Yellow Alerts to Try to Nab Hit-and-Run Drivers
Debbie Geneau was on her way to the bank in Bakersfield, California, one afternoon in July 2020, when three cars headed in the opposite direction crashed. One hit the divider and went airborne, landing on top of Geneau’s Dodge Charger, killing the 65-year-old office manager. The driver responsible for the chain-reaction crash fled the scene. […]
Cyber Insurance Price Hike Hits Local Governments Hard
Horry County, South Carolina, officials were in for a shock earlier this year, when they discovered their cyber insurance premium would be spiking from $70,000 last year to about ,000. And if they couldn’t satisfy the insurance company’s requirements and prove they had the robust controls needed to protect and defend themselves against cyberattacks, they […]
Feds Boost Funding for Public Transit Accessibility
The Federal Transit Administration has announced that it will provide $1.75 billion in grants to transit agencies to improve accessibility for riders. The money, which comes from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, will make it easier for people to get on board the nation’s oldest public rail systems, officials said. Transit agencies can use […]
Racial Justice, Pedestrian Safety Fuel Jaywalking Debate
For nearly a century, jaywalking has been illegal in most states and localities. But several recent reports have shown that police in some areas disproportionately ticket people of color. And critics say citing people for crossing at the wrong place just gives them another reason to drive instead of walk. “It doesn’t really improve safety. […]
Abortion Rights Hacktivists Strike States with Bans
An abortion rights hacktivist group says it launched cyberattacks against Arkansas and Kentucky state governments and leaked files from their servers to protest their bans on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The group, which calls itself SiegedSec, said it hacked the two states because it was angry […]
Early Warning System Pinpoints Flooded Roads in Some States
When Hurricane Florence struck North Carolina in 2018, 11 people there died from freshwater flooding—all of them in cars. The storm also caused 2,500 road closures in the state, including parts of Interstates 95 and 40, which were shut down for more than a week because of flooding. The state estimated bridge, culvert and road […]
Transit Agencies Dangle Discounts and Perks to Woo Riders
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, ridership plummeted on Green Mountain Transit, Vermont’s largest public transit agency. “Like just about every transit agency in the country, the demand for transit disappeared,” said Jon Moore, general manager of the agency, which runs buses in five northwest Vermont counties. Officials knew they needed to do […]
Wheelchair Users Say States Should Spend New Road Money on Safety
On a Sunday afternoon in May 2021, Patsy Ellison left her Knoxville, Tennessee, apartment in her motorized wheelchair and started to cross a nearby street, as she often did. She never made it. Even though there was a stop sign, a Dodge Ram pickup truck turning into the intersection struck and killed Ellison, who was […]
Connecticut Clamps Down on Catalytic Converter Sales
Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont has signed into law a measure that cracks down on the sale of stolen catalytic converters. The law, which takes effect July 1, will enact several requirements for scrap metal processors, junk yard owners and others who receive and sell catalytic converters. It focuses on deterring criminals from selling stolen […]
Pedestrian Fatalities Spike During Pandemic
An estimated 7,485 pedestrians in the United States were struck and killed by drivers in 2021—the largest number in four decades, a new report has found. The analysis by the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit that represents state highway safety offices, found that pedestrian deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic had spiked significantly, as speeding […]
Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals Put Patients at Risk
A University of Vermont Medical Center employee accidentally opened an emailed file from her homeowners association, which had been hacked, in October 2020. That one mistake eventually led to the University of Vermont Health Network, which includes the state’s largest hospital in Burlington, having to cancel surgeries, put off mammogram appointments and delay some cancer […]