OAKLAND — BART passengers were experiencing delays Sunday due to maintenance operations and police activity that hampered trips on sections of the Bay Area transit system.
In one occurrence, a 10-minute delay had occurred Sunday morning at the Coliseum station in Oakland in the direction of Daly City due to police activity. It wasn’t disclosed which law enforcement agency was involved. By 9:30 a.m., that delay had ended.
BART also reported Sunday morning that a 10-minute delay was underway on the San Francisco line in the direction of Berryessa in San Jose, Antioch, and Millbrae due to overnight track maintenance. By 10 a.m., that advisory had ended.
In recent months, BART passengers have suffered through mammoth delays and systemwide shutdowns that snarled the regional transit system.
ENGLEWOOD — Metro Denver budtender Quentin Ferguson needs Regional Transportation District bus and trains to reach work at an Arvada dispensary from his house, a trip that takes 90 minutes each way “on a good day.”
“It is pretty inconvenient,” Ferguson, 22, said on a recent rainy evening, waiting for a nearly empty train that was eight minutes late.
He’s not complaining, however, because his relatively low income and Medicaid status qualify him for a discounted RTD monthly pass. That lets him save money for a car or an electric bicycle, he said, either of them offering a faster commute.
Then he would no longer have to ride RTD.
His plight reflects a core problem of lagging ridership that RTD directors increasingly run up against as they try to position the transit agency as the smartest way to navigate Denver. Most other U.S. public transit agencies, too, are grappling with a version of this problem.
In Colorado, state-government-driven efforts to concentrate the growing population in high-density, transit-oriented development around bus and train stations — a priority for legislators and Gov. Jared Polis — hinge on having a swift public system that residents ride.
But transit ridership has failed to rebound a year after RTD’s havoc in 2024, when operators disrupted service downtown for a $152 million rail reconstruction followed by a systemwide emergency maintenance blitz to smooth deteriorating tracks that led to trains crawling through 10-mph “slow zones.”
The latest ridership numbers show an overall decline this year, by at least 3.9%, with 40 million fewer riders per year compared with six years ago. And RTD executives’ newly proposed, record $1.3 billion budget for 2026 doesn’t include funds for boosting bus and train frequency to win back riders.
Frustrations intensified last week.
“What is the point of transit-oriented development if it is just development?” said state Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat representing Englewood who chairs the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. “We need reliable transit to have transit-oriented development. We have cities that have invested significant resources into their transit-oriented communities. RTD is not holding up its end of the bargain.”
At a retreat this past summer, a majority of the RTD’s 15 elected board members agreed that boosting ridership is their top priority. Some who reviewed the proposed budget last week questioned the lack of spending on service improvements for riders.
“We’re not moving the needle. Ridership is not going up. It should be going up,” director Karen Benker said in an interview.
“Over the past few years, there’s been a tremendous amount of population growth. There are so many apartment complexes, so much new housing put up all over,” Benker said. “Transit has to be relied on. You just cannot keep building more roads. We’re going to have to find ways to get people to ride public transit.”
Commuting trends blamed
RTD Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson, in emailed responses to questions from The Denver Post, emphasized that “RTD is not unique” among U.S. transit agencies struggling to regain ridership lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson blamed societal shifts.
“Commuting trends have significantly changed over the last five years,” she said. “Return-to-work numbers in the Denver metro area, which accounted for a significant percentage of RTD’s ridership prior to March 2020, remain low as companies and businesses continue to provide flexible in-office schedules for their employees.”
In the future, RTD will be “changing its focus from primarily providing commuter services,” she said, toward “enhancing its bus and services and connections to high-volume events, activity centers, concerts and festivals.”
But agency directors are looking for a more aggressive approach to reversing the decline in ridership. And some are mulling a radical restructuring of routes.
Funded mostly by taxpayers across a 2,345 square-mile area spanning eight counties and 40 municipalities — one of the biggest in the nation — RTD operates 10 rail lines covering 114 miles with 84 stations and 102 bus routes with 9,720 stops.
“We should start from scratch,” said RTD director Chris Nicholson, advocating an overhaul of the “geometry” of all bus routes to align transit better with metro Denver residents’ current mobility patterns.
The key will be increasing frequency.
“We should design the routes how we think would best serve people today, and then we could take that and modify it where absolutely necessary to avoid disruptive differences with our current route map,” he said.
Then, in 2030, directors should appeal to voters for increased funding to improve service — funds that would be substantially controlled by municipalties “to pick where they want the service to go,” he said.
Reversing the RTD ridership decline may take a couple of years, Nicholson said, comparing the decreases this year to customers shunning a restaurant. “If you’re a restaurant and you poison some guests accidentally, you’re gonna lose customers even after you fix the problem.”
The RTD ridership numbers show an overall public transit ridership decrease by 5% when measured over the 12-month period from August 2024 through July 2025, the last month for which staffers have made numbers available, compared with the same period a year ago.
Bus ridership decreased by 2% and light rail by 18% over that period. In a typical month, RTD officials record around 5 million boardings — around 247,000 on weekdays.
The precautionary rail “slow zones” persisted for months as contractors worked on tracks, delaying and diverting trains, leaving transit-dependent workers in a lurch. RTD driver workforce shortages limited deployment of emergency bus shuttles.
This year, RTD ridership systemwide decreased by 3.9% when measured from January through July, compared with that period in 2024. The bus ridership this year has decreased by 2.4%.
On rail lines, the ridership on the relatively popular A Line that runs from Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport was down by 9.7%. The E Line light rail that runs from downtown to the southeastern edge of metro Denver was down by 24%. Rail ridership on the W Line decreased by 18% and on R Line by 15%, agency records show.
The annual RTD ridership has decreased by 38% since 2019, from 105.8 million to 65.2 million in 2024.
A Regional Transportation District light rail train moves through downtown Denver on Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Light rail ‘sickness’ spreading
“The sickness on RTD light rail is spreading to other parts of the RTD system,” said James Flattum, a co-founder of the Greater Denver Transit grassroots rider advocacy group, who also serves on the state’s RTD Accountability Committee. “We’re seeing permanent demand destruction as a consequence of having an unreliable system. This comes from a loss of trust in RTD to get you where you need to go.”
RTD officials have countered critics by pointing out that the light rail’s on-time performance recovered this year to 91% or better. Bus on-time performance still lagged at 83% in July, agency records show.
The officials also pointed to decreased security reports made using an RTD smartphone app after deploying more police officers on buses and trains. The number of reported assaults has decreased — to four in September, compared with 16 in September 2024, records show.
Greater Denver Transit members acknowledged that safety has improved, but question the agency’s assertions based on app usage. “It may be true that the number of security calls went down,” Flattum said, “but maybe the people who otherwise would have made more safety calls are no longer riding RTD.”
RTD staffers developing the 2026 budget have focused on managing debt and maintaining operations spending at current levels. They’ve received forecasts that revenues from taxpayers will increase slightly. It’s unclear whether state and federal funds will be available.
RTD directors and leaders of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, an environmental group, are opposing the rollback of RTD’s planned shift to the cleaner, quieter electric hybrid buses and taking on new debt for that purpose.
Colorado lawmakers will “push on a bunch of different fronts” to prioritize better service to boost ridership, Froelich said.
The legislature in recent years directed funds to help RTD provide free transit for riders under age 20. Buses and trains running at least every 15 minutes would improve both ridership and safety, she said, because more riders would discourage bad behavior and riders wouldn’t have to wait alone at night on often-empty platforms for up to an hour.
“We’re trying to do what we can to get people back onto the transit system,” Froelich said. “They do it in other places, and people here do ride the Bustang (intercity bus system). RTD just seems to lack the nimbleness required to meet the moment.”
Denver Center for the Performing Arts stage hand Chris Grossman walks home after work in downtown Denver on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Riders switch modes
Meanwhile, riders continue to abandon public transit when it doesn’t meet their needs.
For Denver Center for the Performing Arts theater technician Chris Grossman, 35, ditching RTD led to a better quality of life. He had to move from the Virginia Village neighborhood he loved.
Back in 2016, Grossman sold his ailing blue 2003 VW Golf when he moved there in the belief that “RTD light rail was more or less reliable.” He rode nearly every day between the Colorado Station and downtown.
But trains became erratic as maintenance of walls along tracks caused delays. “It just got so bad. I was burning so much money on rideshares that I probably could have bought a car.” Shortly before RTD announced the “slow zones” last summer, he moved to an apartment closer to downtown on Capitol Hill.
He walks or rides scooters to work, faster than taking the bus, he said.
Similarly, Honor Morgan, 25, who came to Denver from the rural Midwest, “grateful for any public transit,” said she had to move from her place east of downtown to be closer to her workplace due to RTD transit trouble.
Buses were late, and one blew by her as she waited. She had to adjust her attire when riding her Colfax Avenue route to Union Station to manage harassment. She faced regular dramas of riders with substance-use problems erupting.
Morgan moved to an apartment near Union Station in March, allowing her to walk to work.
She still hoped to rely on RTD for concerts and nightlife, and to reach DIA for work-related flights at least once a month. But RTD social media posts have alerted her to enough delays on the A Line that she no longer trusts it, she said. To reduce her “anxiety” and minimize the risk of missing her flights, she shells out for rides — even though these often get stuck in traffic.
She and her boyfriend recently tried RTD again, riding a train to the 38th and Blake Station near the Mission Ballroom. They attended “an amazing concert” there, she said, and felt happy as they walked to the station to catch the train home.
A man on the platform collapsed backward, hitting his head. He was bleeding. She called 911. Her boyfriend and other riders gathered. She ran across the street to an apartment building and grabbed paper towels. RTD isn’t really to blame, but “I just wish they had a station platform attendant, or someone. I do not know head-injury first aid,” Morgan said.
The train they’d been waiting for came and went. An ambulance arrived. They got home late, the evening ruined, she said.
“His head cracked open. He had skin flaps hanging off his head. This was stuck in my head, at least for the rest of the night.”
ST. PETE, Fla. — The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is getting ready to launch the largest redesign of its transit system in nearly 40 years.
Pinellas County’s public transportation provider has branded the new and improved bus system as the Connected Community Bus Network. The new system is restructuring PSTA’s current bus routes into a schedule that prioritizes weekend and weekday evening rides more than ever before.
In all, roughly 25 routes will be impacted. In some cases, stops will be added or deleted from a route. In other cases, routes will become more direct and redistribute stops.
What You Need To Know
More weekday evening, weekend routes coming to PSTA
New new premium route, Spark, will connect St. Pete’s Grand Central Station to Eckerd College using 4.4 miles of 34th Street South
“We don’t have as many people during the peak commuter hours in our transit system say as people in New York or Chicago,” said Jacob Labutka, planning manager for PSTA. “So we took those resources to add services to weekends so now they can operate seven days a week.”
There will also be timed transfers in Downtown St. Pete, the Park Street Terminal and the Largo Transit Center in order to speed up route connections.
The launch of the Connected Community Bus Network also includes a new service, Spark. Labutka said this new premium route will be a bit quicker than a typical bus and connect St. Pete’s Grand Central Station to Eckerd College using 4.4 miles of 34th Street South.
The redesign and addition of Spark is in an effort to make bus routes line up with the needs of Pinellas County residents.
The new system is set to launch Oct. 26. In order to prepare, PSTA and the Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete are holding a community workshop Friday from 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the foundation’s headquarters at 2333 34th St. S.
The event will provide resources to community organizations, healthcare providers and service agencies to help their clients understand the new system changes.
“These are people who touch folks on a daily basis,” said Marcus Brooks with the Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete. “It’s really important for them to have the information they need as changes are happening… those providers can ensure they’re conveying that message to the individuals in the community.”
TAMPA, Fla. — The Clearwater Ferry service to Dunedin that was suspended after Hurricanes Helene and Milton is up and running again.
What You Need To Know
Clearwater Ferry reopens route in Dunedin
Service was suspended after Hurricanes Helene and Milton
Dunedin Blue Line runs every two hours Thursday-Sunday starting at 10am
A ribbon cutting with Dunedin City officials and representatives from PSTA, the City of Clearwater and Clearwater Ferry celebrated this next phase of recovery Thursday, which also marked one year since Hurricane Milton.
“This, again, is another step to give all our citizens and all our communities a feeling that ‘hey, we are getting there, we’re starting to feel that normalcy again,’” said Dunedin Mayor, Maureen ‘’Moe’’ Freaney.
The city says through an inter-local agreement, Clearwater marina staff constructed a temporary landing to be used. City leaders, passengers and local business owners alike echo the sentiment of appreciating a sense of normalcy returning, even as the community continues to rebuild one year later.
“Nobody could have expected what happened through that storm and how it affected so many people on this coastline and our neighbors, friends, we all got affected by it,” said Sylvia Tzekas, who owns Sea Sea Riders Restaurant near the marina.
“We’ve just missed it so much and we’re so glad it’s back,” said Rhea Bogda, who was one of the first passengers to depart from Dunedin on the ferry in a year. “And the moment that I heard it was going to be Thursday, October 9th, we booked the tickets.”
The ferry can transport almost seventy passengers on a route that runs from Dunedin Marina to Downtown Clearwater, to Clearwater Beach, back to Downtown Clearwater and back to Dunedin.
Tzekas says she looks forward to increased foot traffic downtown. “The tourists that go to Clearwater Beach will be able to enjoy Dunedin as well, which is wonderful and what a great way to travel and enjoy the waterfront and enjoy downtown.”
Enjoying coastal cities while supporting local businesses. “It’s just been a favorite thing of ours to do,” said Bogda.
The ferry runs every two hours, Thursday through Sunday, with the first boat leaving at 10am and the last at 6pm.
Nearly 50 cyclists, victims of e-vehicle collisions and safety advocates, rallied on Fifth Avenue on Thursday to demand an end to the city’s allowance of e-bike and e-scooter riding in city parks.
Photo by Barbara Russo-Lennon
Nearly 50 cyclists, victims of e-vehicle collisions, and safety advocates rallied on 5th Avenue Thursday to demand that the city no longer permit e-bike and e-scooter riding in city parks.
The concerned group gathered near the Central Park Conservancy headquarters to protest the city’s ongoing pilot program, which allows micromobility devices in the park. According to the safety advocates on scene, city officials have already begun making roadside signage changes to accommodate the devices, such as disabling walk signs and covering audible Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) with burlap.
Ralliers held signs that read messages such as “Parks are for recreation, not transportation” and “Ban e-bikes from Central Park.” They want the City Council to pass Intro. 606, which would prohibit the use of e-scooters and e-bikes in city parks. Twenty council members support the bill, including Vickie Paladino, Robert Holden, Erik Bottcher, Mercedes Narcisse and Kristy Marmorato.
“Central Park has become an e-vehicle expressway at the peril of pedestrians and everyone who uses the park,” said Janet Schroeder, co-founder of the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (EVSA). “E-vehicles do not belong in Central Park or any NYC park.”
Schroeder also slammed the Central Park Conservancy for not taking a more aggressive stance against bikes in Central Park.
“We’re here today because the Central Park Conservancy has not stood up at all against the dangers of e-bikes in the park,” she said.
amNewYork contacted the Central Park Conservancy for comment is awaiting a response.
City agencies see ‘promising trends’
Upper West Sider Thomas Lowy, left, was hit last year by an e-bike rider while riding his bike. He suffered a broken clavicle and other injuries.Photo by Barbara Russo-Lennon
The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) announced in July plans to continue a 2023 pilot program that allows the same bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters that are legal to operate in NYC streets to also operate on park drives, such as the Central Park and Prospect Park loops, and greenways, such as the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.
A spokesperson for NYC Parks confirmed that the pilot is still active.
“We are committed to ensuring our public spaces can safely accommodate the diverse ways that New Yorkers engage with them, including electric devices like e-bikes and standup e-scooters,” an agency spokesperson said. “Parks and greenways are critical parts of the city’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, and often the most comfortable and scenic routes.”
NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) officials said the agency’s redesign of the park drives emphasizes safety and implements recommendations from a Central Park Conservancy study, which they claim will provide more space for pedestrians while better separating those who walk and bike.
“This is a large, transformative project, with work at crosswalks still underway, and even during this transitional period, we have not seen any uptick in reported pedestrian injuries,” a DOT spokesperson said. “We look forward to assessing the project after its completion and can make adjustments as needed, though preliminarily, we have observed promising trends.”
Meanwhile, EVSA released footage on Oct. 8 that depicts swarms of e-bikes and other micromobility devices seemingly ignoring safety and traffic signs along the usually tranquil paths of the park. One part of the video shows a group of riders disregarding a crosswalk, forcing a family to clear out of their way.
“Our parks are the only place left to escape motors,” Schroeder said. “Many people, especially older New Yorkers and people with disabilities, can no longer visit Central Park for fear of being hit by a heavy motorized vehicle. The redesign has made Central Park even more chaotic and dangerous.”
Park-goers said they are left feeling increasingly uneasy having to navigate the park alongside e-vehicles.
“Where I live, by Columbus Circle, it’s very chaotic, it’s crowded,” said John Corey, an Upper West Side resident. “You have so many different things going on. E-bikes, regular bikes, crowds of people, rickshaws. It’s a park, and you have to like run across the street so you don’t get hit by anything.”
Nearly 50 cyclists, victims of e-vehicle collisions and safety advocates, rallied on Fifth Avenue on Thursday to demand an end to the city’s allowance of e-bike and e-scooter riding in city parks.Photo by Barbara Russo-Lennon
Lorna Wiener, said Central Park has become “unsafe” because of reckless riding.
“You take your life in your hands getting into the park,” she said.
Despite the community concerns, DOT said the redesign of Central Park has the support of local elected officials, including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and US Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Police in Brooklyn are searching for the hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a woman while she crossed a street on Saturday night.
According to law enforcement sources, 75-year-old Judith Byron of Sunset Park was walking through the intersection of 7th Avenue and 41st Street in the neighborhood shortly after 9:35 p.m. on Oct. 4 when she was fatally hit.
Police said she was walking in the north crosswalk in favor of the pedestrian walk signal when an unknown driver inside a possiblly silver SUV, heading northbound on the street, blew a steady red light before striking Byron.
Authorities said the driver did not remain at the scene after the collision.
Officers from the 72nd Precinct responded to a 911 call about the horrific crash and found Byron with severe trauma throughout her body. EMS responded and rushed the hurt woman to Maimonides Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
So far there are no arrests, but the NYPD’s Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad is continuing the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the incident can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
The tragic incident follows a spate of deadly motor vehicle crashes this month, including two on Staten Island that left a total of four people dead.
Meanwhile, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), reported on Oct. 2 that traffic fatalities in NYC dropped by 18% in the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
DOT officials stated that street redesign projects are, in part, the reason for the decline in traffic fatalities.
There have been three traffic fatalities year-to-date in the 72nd Precinct, where Byron was fatally struck, down from four during the same period last year, according to the latest police data.
The MBTA has responded to the Trump administration’s demand for information on how it’s working to make travel safer in the Boston area.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter last month to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, giving the agency until Thursday to explain how it is keeping passengers and workers safe and how it is paying for those efforts.
Duffy said the federal government may redirect or withhold funding from the MBTA if it did not respond to the request.
The Trump administration said funding could be on the line as it requested details on the MBTA’s plans to reduce crime, vagrancy and fair evasion by Oct. 2.
In a letter to Duffy, dated Thursday, Eng pointed to progress the MBTA has made in recent years.
“We share your commitment to the safety of our employees and the public we serve. All riders must be safe — and feel safe — while using any part of our network,” he wrote. “In partnership with FTA Region 1 and with support from the Administration, we have made significant strides in rebuilding our workforce and improving our infrastructure, making the MBTA safer and more reliable … However, I want to emphasize that this is only the beginning of our aggressive approach to accelerate the delivery of projects and service improvements for the riders, communities, and businesses we serve.”
Eng noted that he joined the MBTA in April of 2023, the year after the Federal Transit Administration placed it under a Safety Management Inspection for staffing and maintenance concerns. He said the goal of making 1,000 new hires in a year was exceeded.
The federal government is calling on the MBTA “to reduce crime, vagrancy and fare evasion,” threatening to pull funds from the transit system.
The MBTA Transit Police Department now has 228 sworn officers, compared to 195 in Fiscal Year 2022, Eng added.
The MBTA also pointed out that since 2012, it had built more than $512 million worth of security infrastructure.
“The MBTA responded in line with the request from the USDOT, we submitted our response yesterday, and now we await any response back,” MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan told NBC10 Boston Friday. “We continue to work with our federal partners, our state partners, to make sure that we continue to capitalize in delivering safe, reliable service.”
“Year to date, between January 1, 2025, and September 24, 2025, we have observed a 16% reduction in recorded crime across the system (632 recorded crimes in 2024 vs. 528 recorded crimes in 2025) or 2.63 crimes per million trips,” Eng wrote.
RTD directors faced a barrage of public opposition and were locked in debate Tuesday night over how to restructure the agency’s Access-on-Demand service, which provides free rides to people with disabilities on commercial services such as Uber and Lyft.
The directors were wrestling with a staff proposal to impose a base fare of $6.50, reduce the maximum per-ride subsidy from $25 to $20 for up to 60 rides per month, and end the 24/7 availability across the Regional Transportation District’s 2,342-mile service area. They voted 10-5 to set the base fare at $4.50, but had yet to agree on other changes at 9:30 p.m.
For more than a year, RTD’s 15 elected directors have been unable to decide on the changes that Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson recommended to make Access-on-Demand “financially viable.”
On Tuesday night, they heard more than three hours of appeals by metro Denver residents with disabilities who urged RTD to maintain a service they described as a lifeline.
A transit fare of $6.50 “may not sound like much to you. But it would make it so that I cannot afford to go to work,” Gabby Gonzales, who works part-time at a pizza restaurant and estimated her monthly income at about $1,100. “Please keep it as it is. Make it affordable for me.”
It’s a matter of “freedom,” said Molly Kirkham, who told directors Access-on-Demand “changed my life,” enabling her to live independently and work. “We want to be in the community.”
State Sen. Faith Winter referred directors to a letter signed by 30 lawmakers opposed to the changes that she said “will harm our community.” And James Flattum, spokesman for the grassroots advocacy group Greater Denver Transit, said doing the right thing means preserving the service as is. “Please do not raise fares for our disabled neighbors in this community,” he said.
RTD directors also were considering whether to order a new study of transit for people with disabilities in metro Denver encompassing Access-on-Demand and the separate, legally required Access-a-Ride service that demands day-before reservations for shared mini-bus rides with a standard fare of $4.50. A “peer review” of Access-on-Demand by national public transportation officials that RTD chief Johnson commissioned last year concluded RTD should restructure the program to ensure “financial sustainability.” Access-on-Demand costs about $17 million out of the RTD’s $1.2 billion annual budget.
The monthly ridership using Access-on-Demand reached 73,000 in July, according to RTD records. That’s more than 10 times the ridership when agency directors launched Access-on-Demand five years ago.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Change could be coming to Charlotte’s transit system after Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 8-1 Tuesday night to approve the creation of a Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority.
The plan now heads to voters in a November referendum. If approved, a one-cent sales tax would go directly toward public transportation projects. Essentials like groceries, gas and medicine would be excluded from the tax.
What You Need To Know
Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 8-1 Tuesday night to approve the creation of a Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority
If approved, a one-cent sales tax would go directly toward public transportation projects
Advocates with Sustain Charlotte pushed commissioners to include riders directly in the decision-making process in Tuesday night’s hearing
The conversation around transit has stretched for years, but safety has become more urgent since the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail in August
Commissioner Chair Mark Jerrell said the decision reflects growing urgency around improving mobility.
“The consensus is that something needs to be done.”
Jerrell says the new authority would replace the existing board and play a crucial role in overseeing transit.
“Transit and transportation are important components of any growing community. We have got to be able to move people to critical points, access points to jobs, employment, education centers,” he said.
Advocates with Sustain Charlotte pushed commissioners to include riders directly in the decision-making process in Tuesday night’s hearing.
“We urge you to incorporate the following principles into your appointment process. First, to prioritize lived experience by including at least one daily catch bus rider among the appointees. This would require coordination with the city,” Meg Fencil of Sustain Charlotte said.
Commissioners agreed, pledging that at least one board seat will be reserved for a rider.
“That’s what we want. We want everyone to be able to participate with respect to the authority, and we’re going to make sure that we get the right people that are reflective of the community,” Jerrell said.
The conversation around transit has stretched for years, but safety has become more urgent since the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail in August.
“One life is too many. And so it did help amplify this conversation to allow us to make sure that we remain focused on safety,” Jerrell said.
Jerrell added that while safety on public transit remains a priority, it is still unclear whether revenue from the tax would help fund private security already contracted by the Charlotte Area Transit System.
If approved, officials say about 30% of the money raised would come from people living outside Mecklenburg County.
Jerrell confirmed the application process for the authority has begun, and there will be deadlines for the board selection process.
Founder and Executive Director of Sustain Charlotte Shannon Binns sent the following statement:
“Sustain Charlotte is very encouraged that the County Commission voted to move this important step forward. Creating a regional transit authority is a vital investment in our community’s future and will help build a more coordinated, accountable, and rider-focused transit system. We are especially glad to hear that at least one seat for a local transit user will be reserved on the new board. Riders bring essential lived experience to these decisions, and their voice will strengthen the authority’s work. We would like to see all appointing bodies go further by prioritizing lived experience in their selections, ensuring transparency in the appointment process, and requiring board members to ride transit at least periodically. That way, decisions about the future of our transit system are grounded in the realities of the people who depend on it every day. Buses are the backbone of our transit system and will continue to be, so representation from those who use them regularly is critical.”
LockerNYC at 161st Street in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
Photo by NYC DOT
New Yorkers placed 15,000 reservations for package deliveries and drop off through the public LockerNYC system since April 2024, prompting the city to expand the free service into parts of the Big Apple, transportation officials announced on Wednesday.
The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) said on Sept. 17 that 36 more locker kiosks will open this fall on public sidewalks and inside local businesses across the five boroughs. Specific locations have not yet been announced.
The expansion will bring the total number of locker locations to 70 in the city, and marks the final phase of the pilot program before the city evaluates it next summer.
LockerNYC, which the city launched in April 2024 with the company GoLocker, is the city’s effort to provide secure places for New Yorkers to pick up their deliveries without worrying about porch pirates stealing their goods.
Officials said there’s another benefit to using the system, too: Consolidating deliveries at central locations cuts down on truck trips, congestion, and air pollution, especially since nearly 80% of households receive at least one package a week.
“The LockerNYC program offers a safe and free way to send and receive those packages without having to worry about porch pirates ruining your day,” said DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said. “In addition to cutting down on package theft, centralized pick-up and drop-offs can also reduce the number of larger delivery vehicles on our streets, improving street safety and reducing greenhouse gases in the process.”
Customers have made over 15,000 reservations for package pickup and drop-off since the program started, Rodriguez said.
New Yorkers can sign up and manage orders on the company’s webpage at golocker.com. Once a package is confirmed to be delivered to a locker, a delivery notification is sent to the package recipient, who then scans a QR code or enters an access code (received via text message or e-mail once the package is delivered to the locker) at the locker computer terminal. The customer then collects the package from an unlocked locker.
Current locker setups are located at several locations across the city, including:
5009 6th Ave., Brooklyn, outside City Fresh Market
OAKLAND – A teenager was injured in a shooting on a BART train Tuesday night in Oakland, according to officials.
The shooting happened on a northbound train approaching the Fruitvale station around 7:30 p.m., BART said in a news release. The 15-year-old victim was taken to an area hospital.
The teen was listed in stable condition Tuesday night.
BART police officers are searching for a suspect. The victim and suspect likely knew each other, according to officials.
The shooting resulted in minor service delays. The train on which the shooting occurred was also taken out of service and moved to another location for evidence processing.
Almost all 600 active BLET members approved a work stoppage, but the union said on Sept. 15 that no job action is imminent, as it requested federal mediation from President Trump. That would include up to six months of negotiation and a 60-day cooling-off period. Should a deal not be reached before then, the earliest walkout could happen in mid-May.
BLET national and local leaders announced the results of a strike vote by members during a news conference in Midtown. The BLET officers were joined by leaders of the four other LIRR unions to discuss the next steps in their effort to achieve a fair agreement for commuter railroaders.
The other unions in attendance were the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Transportation Communications Union. Combined, the coalition represents more than half (55.08%) of the unionized workforce at LIRR.
The dispute between the LIRR and BLET centers around pay. The union members said they have gone without a raise since 2022.
The MTA wants the unions to accept a 9.5% wage increase over three years. However, union reps say the offer does not keep up with the local cost of living.
“What we’re asking for is exceedingly reasonable, essentially the status quo when it comes to the cost of living,” said Kevin Sexton, BLET’s vice president. “MTA’s response has been to stall, stall, stall.”
Rob Free, president of the LIRR, said the MTA has attempted to “negotiate in good faith” with the unions.
“A fair offer has been made and accepted by a majority of all the other representative employees at the LIRR,” Free said, adding that the positions represent cleaners, conductors, mechanics, supervisors and others in the system’s workforce. “Instead, these five labor organizations, which are among the highest paid in the nation, want 6.5% more than everyone else without any concessions, including outdated work rules that significantly inflate salaries.”
Members of the locomotive engineers’ union employed by the MTA at the LIRR began receiving ballots by mail at the end of August seeking authorization to call a strike when permissible under the rules of the federal Railway Labor Act. The results of the vote were tabulated on Monday morning.
Echoing Free, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that a “fair offer” was presented to the unions.
“There is a fair offer on the table, and I have directed the MTA to be ready to negotiate anytime, anywhere,” she said. “Unfortunately, five unions have refused to come to the table in good faith and rejected binding arbitration, putting riders at risk of an unnecessary strike. Both sides must return to negotiations and keep working around the clock until this is resolved.”
Police chased a stolen car in Brooklyn on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
A pedestrian was struck during a Brooklyn police pursuit on Sunday morning in which officers were attempting to stop an alleged teenage car thief.
According to law enforcement sources, officers in the 75th Precinct responded to a call about a stolen vehicle at Pennsylvania and Hegeman Avenues in East New York at around 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 14. Police said the alleged perp, a 15-year-old boy, was identified by the victim at the scene.
Officers then sprang into action when the young suspect immediately fled in the vehicle, going only a short distance around a corner, authorities said. With cops tailing him, the perp had to aggressively navigate traffic. A 71-year-old man standing at the southwest corner of the intersection was struck in the process.
The suspect then fled the vehicle, instigating a foot chase, and was apprehended just moments later.
Meanwhile, the condition of the pedestrian is not yet known, according to sources.
Police set up tape around a crash site in Brooklyn.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Eyewitnesses described a harrowing scene as a street pole came crashing down into the busy intersection following the chase. At one point, the victim was seen trapped underneath the stolen vehicle.
“Just another average wild morning in East New York,” Phillip Rogers said. “I heard a cracking noise and saw the pole come down.”
Catherine Garcia said she was praying for the victim.
“The paramedics, firefighters and cops were working hard to get him out of that situation,” she said.
Police could not yet confirm what kind of vehicle was stolen or whether the pedestrian was hit by the stolen vehicle or the collapsed street pole.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding the incident can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
California’s high-speed rail project is slated to receive $1 billion a year in funding through the state’s cap-and-trade program for the next 20 years — a relief to lawmakers who had urged the Legislature to approve the request as billions of dollars in federal funding remain in jeopardy.
State leaders called the move, which is pending a final vote from the Legislature, a necessary step to cementing investments from the private sector — an area of focus for project officials. And the project’s chief executive, Ian Choudri, said the agreement is crucial to completing the current priority — a 171-mile portion from Merced to Bakersfield — by 2033.
“This funding agreement resolves all identified funding gaps for the Early Operating Segment in the Central Valley and opens the door for meaningful public-private engagement with the program,” Choudri said in a statement. “And we must also work toward securing the long-term funding — beyond today’s commitment — that can bring high-speed rail to California’s population centers, where ridership and revenue growth will in turn support future expansions.”
The project was originally proposed with a 2020 completion date, but so far, no segment of the line has been completed. It’s also about $100 billion over the original $33 billion budget that was originally proposed to voters and has received considerable pushback from Republican lawmakers and some Democrats. The Trump administration recently moved to pull $4 billion in funding that was slated for construction in the Central Valley; in turn, the state sued.
Still, advocates of the project believe it’s crucial to the state’s economy and to the nation’s innovation in transit.
“We applaud Governor Newsom and legislative leaders for their commitment and determination to make High-Speed Rail a success,” former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Co-Chair of U.S. High Speed Rail Ray LaHood said in a statement. “The agreement represents the most important step forward to date for this transformational project.”
State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), who chairs the Senate’s Transportation Committee, said the Legislature “must act quickly to pass this plan and keep California on track to deliver America’s first true high-speed rail.”
Construction on the project has been limited to the Central Valley. Choudri has said that the project could take decades to connect the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco and it’s unclear when construction would begin elsewhere in the state. A recent report from the authority proposed next alternatives for the project that would connect the Central Valley to Gilroy and Palmdale. In those scenarios, regional transit would fill in the gaps to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
L.A.-area lawmakers recently requested an annual $3.3-billion investment in transit from the state’s cap-and-trade fund, acknowledging that although high-speed rail is a state priority, L.A. County should not be overlooked when it comes to increasing more immediate transit investments in the state’s most populous county. Citing equity, health and climate needs, the delegation pushed for greater investment in bus, rail and regional connectors.
According to a recent report from the Southern California Assn. of Governments, L.A. County accounts for 82% of Southern California’s bus ridership. Although public transit use is high, lawmakers and transit leaders have said that expansion and improvements are necessary.
“Millions of Los Angeles County residents already depend on Metro bus and rail, Metrolink, and municipal operators. Yet service has not kept pace with need: transit ridership is still 25-30% below pre-pandemic levels, even as freeway traffic has nearly fully rebounded,” the delegation’s letter stated. “Without significant investment, super commuters from the Valley, South LA, and the Inland Empire remain locked into long, expensive car trips.”
Funding commitments for L.A. County transit were maintained from the last budget, but the delegation’s request for billions in cap-and-trade funds has yet to come through.
“The state budget deal in June 2025 restored $1.1 billion in flexible transit funding from the GGRF, which benefits transit operations statewide, including L.A. County,” Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas’ (D-Los Angeles) office said.
Smallwood-Cuevas said the point of the request was to ensure that transit needs of the Los Angeles region aren’t lost.
“We recognize what it means when folks in L.A. County get out of their cars and onto public transit — that is the greatest reduction that can happen,” she said. “We fully intend to see an opportunity where we can address some of that ridership and look at ways to ensure an equitable opportunity that invests in our regional transit public transit, while we also work to build what I call the spine of our transit, a high speed rail program that will run up and down the state and connect to our regional public transit arteries.”
State Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) said that the state’s investments toward wildfire recovery in Pacific Palisades and Altadena “does not mean that you should leave the largest segment of drivers anywhere in the world languishing in traffic forever.”
“It’s not that there’d be nothing [for transit funding],” Stern said. “It’s just that we think there should be more.”
The Los Angeles area isn’t facing the same state funding hurdle of the Bay Area, where lawmakers have scrambled to obtain a $750-million transit loan, warning that key services like BART could be significantly affected without the funds.
Roughly $14 billion has been spent on the high-speed rail project so far, which has created roughly 15,000 jobs in the Central Valley. Theoretically, the train will eventually boost economies statewide.
Eli Lipmen of MoveLA believes that the investments will help transit in the Los Angeles region by expanding access, long before there’s a direct high-speed rail connection.
“Wer’e building an incredible transit system with LA Metro, but we need that regional system to get out to Orange County, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura County,” Lipmen said.
“So we’re making those investments even if high-speed rail doesn’t come here right away to improve those connections for constituents. That’s a good thing.”
An e-bike rider was killed after recently slamming into an open car door on a Queens street, police announced Saturday.
According to law enforcement sources, officers from the 102nd Precinct responded to a collision near Lefferts Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill at around 8:25 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25. An initial investigation determined that a 32-year-old man from Queens, named “Vikas,” was riding an e-bike southbound on Lefferts Boulevard when he collided with an open car door.
Police determined that a 46-year-old man, sitting in a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC, opened the driver’s side door that Vikas slammed into. Upon the horrific impact, the cyclist was thrown off the device and forcefully landed on the roadway, sustaining a head injury.
EMS immediately responded and rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, the man in the Mercedes-Benz remained at the scene.
No charges have been filed against the driver so far, but the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad is continuing its inquiry.
Police reported that e-bike collisions citywide have been increasing this year.
According to the latest traffic statistics from the NYPD, e-bike collisions throughout the boroughs are up over 30% year to date, with 540 incidents this year, compared to 414 during the same period in 2024.
The NYPD statistics reflect a significant increase since July 23, when amNewYork reported that e-bike collisions citywide are up a whopping 21.5% year to date, with 401 crashes compared to 330 during the same period last year, per the traffic data.
Meanwhile, the latest NYPD data also shows that overall collisions involving motorized two-wheeled devices (including mopeds and e-bikes) are down over 13% year to date this year compared to the same period in 2024.
TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation District 7 is hosting a community meeting Thursday night to kick off its Project Development and Environmental Study for a major project on the Courtney Campbell Causeway from Clearwater to Tampa.
The project is in its early planning stages but will likely include widening the causeway as well as adding more environmental buffers between the water and the road.
What You Need To Know
FDOT hosting meeting Thursday to announce Project Development and Environmental Study project on the Courtney Campbell Causeway
The project is in its early planning stages but will likely include widening the causeway as well as adding more environmental buffers between the water and the road
Thursday’s meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hilton on Rocky Point
Kirk Bogen, FDOT District 7 Environmental Engineer, said one of the first things the project will address are bridge spans on the causeway.
“I know one of the areas that we are probably going to look at first is the main span bridges to see if we need to replace those or expand those and where they are,” Bogen said.
The goal of any project on the causeway, according FDOT, would be to improve traffic congestion and harden it against major storms.
But some groups are less worried about the pavement and more worried about the water the causeway crosses.
Justin Trimble with Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, a nonprofit working to protect Tampa Bay’s watershed says his group will attend the meeting tonight, and hopes any project will improve water flow near the causeway.
“We believe this is a great opportunity to help Tampa Bay,” said Tramble. “We believe that any infrastructure investments that are made should help the environment, should help the Tampa Bay estuary and not harm it.
Thursday’s meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hilton on Rocky Point.
BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder County is taking the first major step toward reimagining how residents get around, unveiling plans for its first-ever strategic transit plan and asking the community to weigh in on the future of transportation.
The effort, called “Linking Boulder County,” is a push toward a more coordinated, equitable, and sustainable transit network. That could include the Northwest Rail Line, which would link Denver to Boulder and Longmont.]
For longtime residents like Claudia Hanson Thiem, a board member of the nonprofit Boulder Progressives, current transit options leave much to be desired. Denver7’s Colin Riley spoke with Hanson Thiem at Boulder Junction’s Depot Square Station.
“I live about four miles away from this station, up in north Boulder, and it is actually easier, faster for me, to access this location in Boulder by bike than it is by transit,” Thiem said. “There are places that you can get to in the city of Boulder with transit, but if you need to change buses, for example, you’re looking at long wait times. You’re looking at unreliable service, and that’s the situation that I deal with.”
Thiem, who often advocates for communities that cannot drive or choose not to, fears these populations are too often overlooked.
“I think there’s a real tendency to leave them out. So if you look at our population here in Boulder, and really anywhere in the US, there’s 30% or more people who do not drive at all, right?” she said. “There are a lot of reasons why people are not traveling by private car. And yes, it’s hard to be heard.”
She points out that improving transit is not just about mobility, but also touches on affordability, climate change, and universal access.
“It’s part of climate action, because private car emissions are one of the largest local contributors to greenhouse gases,” Thiem said. “This is an area where we can make a big difference if we can change some transportation behaviors. One of the most important goals that we could have coming out of it is to have a focus on frequent and reliable transit service.”
Boulder County officials say the plan is intended to ensure that “these efforts are happening in a coordinated fashion,” and to work “towards common goals and a shared vision.”
Colin Riley, Denver7
Candidate for Boulder City Council, Jenny Robbins.
Jenny Robbins, a candidate for Boulder City Council and parent of two teenage daughters who regularly ride the bus, is encouraged by the new direction.
“I think it will help the whole community. From a climate perspective, it will help us reach our climate goals with our carbon emission reduction, as well as just be more equitable,” Robbins said. “It allows people to get from place to place where they need to go more efficiently.”
Robbins says the plan must address not only gaps in bus routes, but also work holistically to improve connections for pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders, train passengers, and drivers alike.
“We have to do that on bikes. We have to do that on buses. We have to do that on trains, and we have to do that by being able to walk from place to place,” Robbins said. “If all of these things can connect through our existing trails and our existing infrastructure, I think that would be fantastic. It would help our workers get to work on time. It would help our seniors with their independence. It would help our kids be safer and our students get to and from school.”
Both Thiem and Robbins emphasized the importance of incorporating a diverse range of voices in the planning process.
“Bringing the voices from the community together to talk about it is so important, because if you don’t have that, then you really don’t know what real-life experience is from people,” Robbins said.
Boulder County is currently recruiting members for a community advisory committee to help guide the project. Residents are encouraged to apply and contribute their perspectives to help ensure the new transit network reflects the needs and experiences of everyone who lives and works in the area.
If you are interested in joining the project’s community advisory committee, you have until September 19 to submit an application, which can be found here.
Boulder County seeks public input for first-ever strategic transit plan
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Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Colin Riley
Denver7’s Colin Riley is a multimedia journalist who tells stories impacting all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on transportation and our state’s senior population. If you’d like to get in touch with Colin, fill out the form below to send him an email.
The MTA announced its subway, commuter railway and bus service schedule for the Labor Day weekend starting on Friday, Aug. 29, through Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 1.
Citywide subways and buses will run on a regular weekend schedule, but on Labor Day Monday, they will run on a Sunday schedule. However, the MTA said there will be planned subway changes throughout the weekend.
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) will run on a Saturday schedule on Sunday. On Monday, the LIRR will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule with Montauk Branch trains running on a Sunday schedule.
The LIRR Cannonball trainMarc A. Hermann / MTA
The 11:36 a.m. and 1:46 and 4:17 p.m. trains from Montauk to Penn Station, the 6:21 p.m. train from Montauk to Penn Station, and the 3:25 p.m. train from Southampton to Jamaica, usually scheduled to run Sundays, will instead run on Monday along with other added service from the Hamptons and Montauk. This is in addition to regular Montauk Branch service.
On Tuesday, the 7:17 a.m. train from Montauk to Hunterspoint Avenue, which usually runs on summer Mondays, is instead scheduled to run on Tuesday for commuters returning to NYC after the holiday weekend.
Metro-North will have service adjustments on both the East and West of Hudson Lines for the Labor Day weekend. Extra early getaway trains will be available. More information is online.
Commuters can find out more about planned service changes at mta.info.
TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis came to Tampa on Tuesday, touting local and statewide transportation projects.
DeSantis said the initiative, called “Moving Florida Forward,” has used billions of dollars from the state surplus to focus on infrastructure.
He said that so far, the state has spent nearly $7 billion on at least 20 major interstate and road projects in Florida, including the Howard Frankland Bridge, Gateway Expressway and Interstate 275 expansion.
DeSantis said the Howard Frankland project is the largest infrastructure project ever delivered in the Bay area.
It will increase capacity by about 50 percent, plus strengthen hurricane routes.
State leaders said the Howard Frankland project is on track to finish getting rid of one section of the old bridge and recycle the concrete for other projects.
“The work we have done has been significant,” DeSantis said. “We will end up delivering a modern bridge that will increase capacity by 50 percent.”
Ed Montanari, the chairman of the group, said air taxis could very well be in St. Petersburg’s future.
“You know, you think about the cartoon “The Jetsons” where the characters got into a vehicle that was totally operated without a pilot,” he said. “That’s where this industry is going.”
Electric, pilotless air taxis could one day ferry people from Albert Whitted Airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport or even other popular destinations like Disney World.
“There is a need, and look at the situation that we have here in the Tampa Bay area and it’s going to give you another option,” Montanari said. “They’re going to transport people, transport cargo and ambulance. Also, it’s just amazing technology that’s coming our way.”
Until then, part of the ongoing discussions that the task force will have with city leaders and manufacturers will focus on design, how the planes are going to operate and the kind of infrastructure that would need to be placed.
“We want to learn about the aircraft, and we want to see how they fit into, not just Albert Whitted Airport, but around the city,” Montanari said. “We envision these vehicles could be operating from the top of buildings, hospitals, depending on the use of the vehicle.”
But the future Ubers, Lyfts and ambulances of the skies come at a much different price.
According to Lilium, one of the largest electric jet-manufacturers, a six-minute ride would cost about $70. However, if the alternative is traffic on Interstate 275, $70 might not be all that bad.
After Monday’s meeting, the task force will present its second progress report to the St. Pete city council in November, before presenting the final one in January.
