Austin

Five days earlier later there had been a nearly identical tragedy in Morgan Park.

A Chicago Tribune investigation indicates that police are much more likely to ticket people in African-American communities for bike infractions than they are to issue citations to lawbreaking cyclists in mostly white areas. This isn't just illegal and unjust. It also discourages cycling in black neighborhoods.

Austin is in the process of overhauling its zoning code -- an initiative called CodeNext -- and one of the most promising aspects is a major reduction in parking requirements. If the current draft holds up, the effects on walkability, housing affordability, and water quality could be impressive.

The case of a 50-year-old woman who collapsed while crossing the street in Austin, and was fatally struck by a driver who fled the scene, appears to be the first pedestrian fatality of 2017.

Do the people who make transportation funding decisions in your region represent the people who actually live in your region?

[Last November the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

A 39-year-old man is dead after his teenage son intentionally struck him and two other relatives with a car in Austin, according to police.

In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2 (the original came out in 2014), U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group teamed up to profile the most wasteful highway projects that state DOTs are building. Streetsblog will be serializing the case studies in the report. Today, we focus on a road project that risks contaminating the water supply in and around Austin, Texas.