Today’s Headlines

  • EPA rolls out stronger new limits on smog, formed by a mixture of pollution from stationary and mobile sources (NYT)
  • A look at the green job-creation potential of the next federal transport bill (Apollo Alliance via Grist)
  • Oberstar cheers as Minnesota joins Safe Routes to School partnership (Review Messenger)
  • How to redraw a new, more sustainable American city (NRDC Mag)
  • Chicago mayor’s response to lawsuit claiming discrimination in transit funding: The system is unfair, but it’s not about race (Sun-Times)
  • $271m in contracts awarded for major NY-NJ rail tunnel project (NJBIZ)
  • D.C. Metro board delays vote on proposed rail and bus cuts (WaPo Blog)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

How Will a New FRA Rule Affect Commuter Rail?

By Angie Schmitt |
Misguided safety rules from the Federal Railroad Administration are cited as the cause for all sorts of problems, from high-construction costs to pedestrian hazards to, ironically, worse safety outcomes. Which helps explain why Jarret Walker at Network blog Human Transit is alarmed about a new rule “requiring two-person train crews… for most main line freight and […]

What If “Commuter Rail” Was for Everyone, Not Just 9-to-5 Commuters?

By Angie Schmitt |
Rhode Island has been investing in commuter rail — long distance service connecting Providence to Boston and towns in between. But lackluster ridership at a new park-and-ride rail station at the end of the line (by a Walmart!) is sapping support for much more useful investments, reports Sandy Johnston at Itinerant Urbanist. Anti-rail critics are piling on. The libertarian Rhode Island Center […]

U.S. DOT Holding Five Public Meetings on Its National Rail Plan

By Elana Schor |
As it works to finalize a National Rail Plan that could prove pivotal in securing dedicated long-term funding for high-speed rail, the U.S. DOT is soliciting public feedback at five meetings in the coming weeks. The first public meeting will be held Wednesday in Kansas City, followed by a Thursday meeting in Atlanta, according to […]

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Rail Promoter, Announces Retirement

By Tanya Snyder |
Yesterday afternoon, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, announced that Frank Lautenberg would return as chair of the committee’s Surface Transportation, & Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, & Security Subcommittee. This afternoon at 2:00 p.m., Lautenberg issued a statement that “improving passenger and high-speed rail service in America and on the Northeast Corridor is […]