"Newark Penn Station has played a vital role in New Jersey's public transportation and mass transit system since its doors first opened," said Transportation Commissioner and New Jersey Transit Board Chairman Jamie Fox. "It is as important to our state's commuters today as it was 80 years ago. We will continue to invest in public transportation and ensure that Newark Penn Station remains a prominent part of the tri-states' transportation network for another eighty years."

New York City Transit (NYCT) says it has reorganized its senior leadership to meet the challenges posed by steadily increasing ridership on the 110-year-old subway system, for the first time putting a single vice president in charge of integrating new technology, operating more efficiently and improving the customer experience.  Department of Subways veteran John Gaul has been tapped to become NYCT's first vice president, 21st Century service delivery.  

SEPTA riders should not expect to see an increase in fare charges, the transit authority said when it released the proposed operating budget for the fiscal year 2016.  According to a statement from SEPTA, the budget will increase 2.84 over fiscal year 2015 to $1.36 billion, covering expenses between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016. It includes resources for the permanent implementation of 24-hour weekend service on the Broad Street Line subway and Market-Frankford Line subway/elevated, which was launched as a pilot program last year.

The Maryland Transit Administration's signature effort to improve its troubled Baltimore-area bus system - already delayed for nearly a year - faces an uncertain future because of new skepticism from the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan.  The plan was delayed for months because of the 2014 elections, according to internal MTA documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a Public Information Act request.  

A top labor union is fighting to save the federal gas tax, arguing that eliminating it would ruin the nation's transportation system.  The AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department (TTD) said Friday that without the gas tax the nation would be left with a "patchwork system of state plans and revenue agendas ... incapable of meeting the multimodal demands of a 21st century economy."  

ClimateProgress - March 22, 2015    

The mayor of Paris, City of Lights, announced Saturday that starting Monday morning, the number of cars permitted to drive in the city would be reduced by half in an effort to fight a "pollution emergency."  Cars with plates ending in odd numbers, hybrid or electric vehicles, cars with more than three passengers, and public transportation - now free in the city and surrounding towns - would be the only ways to move around in Paris. Electric vehicle and bicycle sharing programs would also cost nothing while the ban stayed in place.

One need not look to the wild blue yonder to find the BNSF air force. Soon, it will be patrolling BNSF tracks from altitudes no higher than 500 feet, but not within three miles of any airport and always during daylight hours.  Such are the restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in granting BNSF authority March 12 to operate lighter than 55-pound drones-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as they are formally known. So far, BNSF-which was a pioneer in the design of Positive Train Control (PTC)-is the only railroad that has sought such FAA authority.

For college student Mark Kalina Jr., getting dressed in the morning means putting on two prosthetic legs.  Kalina lost his legs while taking a five-minute shortcut to Ohio State University in October 2012 . A stationary freight train began to move as he walked next to it, snagging his shirt and pulling him underneath the moving cars.  Roughly 1,400 to 1,500 people died in railroad trespassing accidents and suicides last year, according to experts who testified Tuesday at a National Transportation Safety Board forum.

Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3) and Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) introduced the Reassuring Adequate Investment in Lifesaving Systems (RAILS) Act, which reauthorizes the Rail Safety Technology Grant program to improve the safety of the nation's railroads.  The bill provides $200 million for each of the next five years for positive train control (PTC) safety technologies, rail integrity inspection systems, a system for electronic communication regarding hazardous material rail shipments and other new rail safety items.

Minnesota House Republicans have unveiled a transportation funding proposal that they say would spend $7 billion over 10 years on roads and bridges without raising taxes. The approach contrasts sharply with DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Senate Democrats, who are pushing plans that rely on a gas tax and metro sales tax increases and also include funding for metro area transit projects.  

There are "no fatal flaws" that would prevent the District's troubled streetcar system from opening to passengers, according to outside transit experts brought in to inspect the city's 2.2 mile line.  The findings by a group from the American Public Transportation Association represent a critical endorsement for the streetcar line along H Street and Benning Road NE. Leif Dormsjo, appointed head of the District Department of Transportation by Mayor Muriel Bowser in January, had asked for the review as part of his reexamination of the effort.