Rail
Basics
In Age of Budget Cuts, Why Are Billions of Federal Rail Dollars Going Unused?
If I told you there was a fantastic, $35 billion federal program to lend money for railroads to improve their infrastructure, you’d probably assume one of the following:
February 18, 2011
Buses vs. Rail: Conservatives Do Battle Over Which Mode is Better
Bill Lind is a big man. The director of the Center for Public Transportation at American Conservative stands well over six feet tall, and when he really gets going, he seems to loom even larger. Maybe that’s why he hates buses so much. “Those seats are designed for garden gnomes,” he said.
February 11, 2011
Mica’s Goal: More Cars Off of the Highway
In a recent interview with the Journal of Commerce, Transportation Chair John Mica (R-FL) indicated that he shares many transportation goals with the Obama administration.
January 14, 2011
White House Proposes Lowering Barriers to Rail, Airline Unionizing
Rail and airline employees would face lowered barriers to unionizing under a new rule announced today by the Obama administration that would put union elections for workers in both modes of transportation on an equal footing with other industries.
May 10, 2010
Dem and GOP Senators Seek More Long-Term Rail Vision From Obama Aides
The senior Democratic and Republican senators in charge of setting annual transportation spending levels today urged the leader of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop a more comprehensive plan for using the White House's high-speed rail program to spur the development of viable U.S. train networks.
April 29, 2010
Obama Aide Defends Transit Safety Plan as Different from Rail Rules
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff today mounted a defense of the White House's transit safety plan, assuring some skeptical members of Congress that he does not want to "replicate" inter-city rail safety rules that have taken flak for impeding the development of viable U.S. train networks.
April 21, 2010
New Report Maps Link Between Overseas Transit Attacks and Domestic Risk
Transit networks around the world beefed up security measures in the wake of last month's fatal bombing of a Moscow subway car, but the relevance of circumstances and tactics used in overseas terrorist attacks to U.S. rail and bus security remains unclear, according to a new report partly funded by the U.S. DOT.
April 13, 2010
Amtrak on Pace to Break Annual Ridership Record
Amtrak carried 13.6 million passengers over the past six months, putting it on pace for a record-breaking ridership year, according to a statement released today by officials at the national inter-city rail system.
April 8, 2010
Transport Fix to Jobs Bill Would Take $192M From CA, Send $76M to TX
Fixing a disputed provision in the jobs bill that President Obama signed into law yesterday -- as Senate Democratic leaders promised House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) following complaints by several members of his panel -- would involve the redistribution of $932 million in funding for two major federal road and rail programs.
March 19, 2010
Environmental Group Offers Congress a Map to Cleaner Freight
The federal government can reap significant pollution-reduction benefits by focusing on a national freight plan that replaces older diesel equipment with newer, cleaner-burning train cars while building out regional networks more efficiently, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said yesterday in a new report [PDF].
March 16, 2010