Transit
Basics
Transit Union Slams DRIVE Act
Yesterday, the Senate passed both a three-month transportation extension and a six-year reauthorization bill (albeit with three years of funding), which the Senate hopes to workshop with the House in the fall. The bill’s name itself -- the DRIVE Act -- raised the hackles of transit advocates. Looking deeper, it seems those advocates have more to worry about than just semantics.
July 31, 2015
Major MARTA Expansion Could Transform the Atlanta Region
Transit planners in the Atlanta area are getting serious about the largest expansion in MARTA's history. MARTA officials have proposed new, high-capacity service into North Fulton County and east into DeKalb County that could link important job centers by rail for the first time. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it could “change the face of Atlanta."
July 22, 2015
Fewer People Are Riding the Bus Because There Are Fewer Buses to Ride
Remember when the Great Recession decimated transit agency budgets, but the White House and Congress refused to step in and fund bus service while spending billions of dollars to subsidize car purchases? Well, the hangover continues to this day, leaving bus riders in the lurch.
May 29, 2015
Program Would Make Transit Free for Commuters to Downtown Columbus
Only about 5 percent of workers in downtown Columbus arrive by transit daily, according to census data. So Columbus -- technically the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. -- isn't a huge transit city, by any means. But an innovative new proposal could help dramatically increase the share of downtown workers who arrive by bus.
April 28, 2015
Chris Christie Keeps Trying to Balance NJ’s Books on Backs of Transit Riders
Governor Chris Christie has really made a mess of New Jersey's transportation finances. Since 2011, the governor's "flipping the couch cushions" strategy has resulted in the state amassing an additional $5.2 billion in debt.
April 23, 2015
5 Things the USDA Learned From Its First National Survey of Food Access
The links between transportation, development patterns, and people's access to healthy food are under increasing scrutiny from policy makers trying to address America's obesity epidemic.
April 10, 2015
Miami’s Golden Opportunity to Bring Commuter Rail Downtown
Opportunities like this don't come around very often. Traffic-clogged Miami is tantalizingly close to a commuter rail extension that would link its northern suburbs to the heart of downtown. But the city needs to secure $30 million in the next few months to make it happen.
March 31, 2015
U.S. Transit Ridership Continued Upward Climb in 2014, Thanks to NYC
Transit ridership continued to climb in American cities last year, even as gas prices sank. The American Public Transit Association is out with new data on the number of transit trips in the United States -- 10.8 billion in 2014, the highest in 58 years.
March 9, 2015
Koch Brothers Loom Over Maryland’s Purple Line Fight
Look whose envoy has been dispatched to undermine Maryland's Purple Line. Once again, Randal O'Toole of the Koch brothers-funded Cato Institute has been deployed to attack a light rail project in distress.
February 26, 2015
Maryland Gov Larry Hogan Plays Chicken With Purple Line Funding
Newly elected Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says he's putting off bids on the Purple Line light rail project in an attempt to cut costs, but the delay could also jeopardize the whole project by putting federal funding at risk.
February 24, 2015