Today’s Headlines

  • LaHood heading to Japan for face-to-face talks with Toyota execs over defective autos … (LAT)
  • … but not before getting lobbied by mag-lev train backers on a Pittsburgh visit (Trib-Review)
  • New York state officials and CSX hold a powwow with the feds to clear up controversy over high-speed rail’s top speed (Dem-Chronicle, Buff. News)
  • Embattled Illinois commuter rail chief throws self in front of train (AP)
  • New study attributes uptick in nighttime road fatalities among teens to texting behind the wheel (Time)
  • Dallas op-ed writer mulls his own lack of enthusiasm for daily transit use (Morn News Blogs)
  • New grassroots lobbying push in Seattle for $30m hike in annual bike-ped spending (S. Times)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Can California HSR Learn From Spain’s Fatal Train Crash?

By Tanya Snyder |
The Spanish train crash in Santiago de Compostela that killed 79 people last week has sparked questions about whether high-speed rail is safe. In fact, it’s among the safest ways to travel, and technology that already exists can make the type of human error that led to tragedy in Spain nearly a non-issue. Future high-speed […]

Expectations for High-Speed Rail Coming Down to Earth

By Elana Schor |
Three months after the Obama administration announced the first winners of what it hopes will be the first of many federal grants to build U.S. high-speed rail networks, advocates and planners are settling in for a long battle to surmount the obstacles and unknowns that stand in the way of long-term bullet train development. If […]