Atlanta, GA

Atlanta City Council to consider resolution to shorten e-scooter curfew for second time

Published

1 year ago

October 15, 2024

Atlanta City Council to consider resolution to shorten e-scooter curfew for second time

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Nearly five years after adopting an e-scooter curfew after a series of traffic fatalities, the Atlanta City Council will consider a resolution to address whether to shorten the curfew for the second time in two years.

“We want you to be connected, we want you to be in a walkable city, but we’re preventing you from using some of the tools that are eligible for you at night,” said District 12 City Councilman Antonio Lewis, who sponsored the resolution.

The change would shorten the curfew to two hours, 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. It’s currently from midnight to 4 a.m.

For most people, e-scooters from companies like Byrd and Lime are practical means of transportation.

Raegan Turner and Mackenzie O’Brien often work downtown past midnight as servers.

“It’s cool and convenient because I don’t have a car,” Turner said.

Turner believes the change would promote safer movement.

“I don’t have to walk in the middle of the night — as a girl — which is very unsafe in the city,” she added.

But the curfew was originally a safety protocol, running from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., after multiple scooter-accident deaths in 2019.

The Atlanta City Council instituted the curfew, but even at the time, there was concern that the problem was not scooters but Atlanta’s streets.

In 2022, a Georgia Tech study found that the scooter curfew was hurting city traffic, which led the city council to shorten the curfew from midnight to 4 a.m.

Now, it could be scaled back again to help workers who get off late at night.

“It would make it a lot more accessible for different modes of public transportation,” O’Brien said.

In the years since the curfew began, Atlanta’s roads have also changed.

“I think sometimes the roads were a little too tight, like, for cartoon characters,” said Sara Tan, operations manager at EStar Rides in South Atlanta. “The infrastructure is preparing for it. So, they’re redoing a lot of our roads now.”

That includes where Turner and O’Brien ate lunch on Memorial Drive SE on Monday afternoon.

“They just did this, like, I wanna say six months ago,” Turner said, pointing out dedicated lanes separating bikes and scooters from car traffic.

It’s work like the construction on Memorial Drive that has Lewis feeling like Atlanta is ready to consider a change.

“There’s no reason for us to be so hard on folks who want to ride a scooter,” he said.

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Atlanta, GA

2 Dead In Fiery Crash On Interstate 75 In Atlanta

Published

11 hours ago

December 13, 2025

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2 Dead In Fiery Crash On Interstate 75 In Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA — Two people are dead following a fiery crash on Interstate 75 in Atlanta, according to police.

The crash occurred shortly before 3:15 a.m. Saturday on southbound I-75 near Cleveland Avenue Southwest. According to police, a Kia Sportage was traveling on I-75 when the driver lost control of the vehicle while attempting to exit at Cleveland Avenue.

Police said the vehicle left the roadway, hit a pole and subsequently caught fire.

Two unidentified occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators with the Atlanta Police Department Accident Investigations Unit responded to the scene to determine what led to the crash. The investigation into the collision is ongoing.

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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta chef charged after shooting 2 suspected teen porch pirates outside his home

Published

23 hours ago

December 13, 2025

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Atlanta chef charged after shooting 2 suspected teen porch pirates outside his home

An Atlanta chef allegedly shot two teenagers who were suspected of trying to steal packages outside his home in broad daylight.

Rakim Bradford was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after he opened fire on the boys, ages 15 and 16, at his townhouse in the Mays neighborhood, southwest of Downtown Atlanta, on Thursday around 3:40 p.m.

Bradford, the head chef at an area IHOP, according to his LinkedIn, was at his home on the 700 block of Celeste Lane SW when he noticed the teens near his front porch, Atlanta Police said.

Officials believe the teens had traveled to the Villages of Cascade complex, where they spotted a delivery van and followed it, according to Atlanta News First, citing Bradford’s arrest warrant.

“After the packages were dropped, they agreed to steal that package from the front of the residence,” the warrant stated.

Bradford caught the teens going for the packages and allegedly shot the pair before they could steal the delivery.

“We believe a property crime was occurring, that some packages were being taken off a front porch, which is common this time of year,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told reporters. “The homeowner did discharge his weapon to stop that theft of packages.”

The unidentified 15-year-old was found with a gunshot wound to the right foot. Officers later found the 16-year-old suffering from a gunshot to the right arm.

He was transported to the hospital in critical condition before undergoing surgery. The teen is expected to survive.

“The Atlanta Police Department takes gun violence very seriously,” Schierbaum said. “Anytime a child is injured in our city, we really take that really seriously. We want to make sure they know what’s happening.”

Bradford was detained after the shooting and brought in for questioning.

Officials ruled out a home invasion and didn’t announce any charges against the two teens.

Neighbors warned potential porch pirates of stealing packages from other homes.

“Don’t go and steal people’s packages,” Andrew Julian told the outlet. “On the other side of that, what right do you have to defend your own home, and then what decision do you make to defend your own home based on somebody taking an item off of your porch? So, it’s certainly a conversation to be had.”

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Atlanta, GA

Want a rental for the World Cup in Atlanta? Demand up as much as 4000%

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

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Want a rental for the World Cup in Atlanta? Demand up as much as 4000%

Are you trying to find a short-term rental in Atlanta for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on match day?

The players on the field won’t be the only ones facing fierce competition.

In the days since the announcement of the group stage match-ups last week, demand for short term rentals in Atlanta has skyrocketed, reaching nearly a 5000% increase in some neighborhoods.

In a report published by AirDNA — a vacation rental analysis group that uses data from companies like Aibnb, VRBO and rental partners — researchers compared searches for short-term rentals in Atlanta in June and July 2025 to searches for the coming year during the same time period.

Here is what they found.

These Atlanta neighborhoods have highest demand

AirDNA found that in the city of Atlanta, the year-over-year change in demand for short term rentals for the dates of the group stage games increased 286% overall, as of Dec. 10.

For the round of 32 date, demand went up 351% from 2025 to 2026. During the round of 16, the demand was up 284%. The semi-final match led to an increase in demand of 213%.

For specific neighborhoods, the year-over-year increase in nightly demand for rentals was astronomical.

Here are the top 10:

Chosewood Park — 4450%
Buckhead — 2400%
Atlanta University Center/ Vine City — 1911%
Cabbagetown — 1833%
Edgewood — 1638%
Ben Hill — 1200%
Bankhead — 1141%
Grant Park — 1044%
Downtown Atlanta — 1034%
North Druid Hills — 900%

More than 30 other neighborhoods and cities in the greater Atlanta metro area saw increases in nightly demand by more than 200%.

Only six areas — Doraville, Brookhaven/North Buckhead, Douglasville, Powder Springs, Vinnings and Chamblee — saw a decrease in nightly demand for match days compared to 2025.

Rentals for night before also in high demand

When AirDNA compared demand for the night before a match versus the night after, the demand was similar if not higher in some cases.

The demand for rentals on June 14, the day before the first group stage match, is the same for demand on June 15 when the match is actually played, the data shows.

On June 20, however, demand for a rental in Atlanta overall is higher than on June 21, the day of the third group stage match.

Overall demand in Atlanta stays high once the World Cup begins, with some slower breaks in between the later tournament matches.

Can I still get World Cup tickets for Atlanta matches?

The Random Selection Draw period is on now for specific match tickets. Spectators hoping to see a specific match can request to enter the drawing through the FIFA ticketing website.

Tickets are also available for some of the more elaborate World Cup experiences, as well as through packages from Qatar Airlines. Tickets will open for resale on Dec. 15.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

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