National Rail Car Consortium Meeting Hosted by Denver RTD
The National Rail Car Consortium (the Consortium) held its third in-person meeting this past week in Denver, Colorado. With Valley Transit Authority recently joining the Consortium as the newest member, labor and management Subject Mater Experts (SMEs) from sixteen rail transit locations worked on developing and validating the next round of Consortium courseware. SMEs were welcomed by Denver RTD's Phil Eberl, Superintendent of Light Rail Maintenance, who stressed the importance of the Consortium's "group of professionals working to set a standard of excellence in training and maintenance." Teams from MBTA and CATS were recognized for their excellent contributions to the rail car courseware development and pilots. Denver RTD's team, led by Matt Younce, Manager of Maintenance Training, also received commendations for their outstanding work to pilot the Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3). Other highlights from the Denver meeting included a tour of RTD's Mariposa and Elati Light Rail Maintenance facilities and remarks by Terry Emmons, Assistant General Manager for Rail Operations. There was also a presentation on registered apprenticeship by Colorado State Director from the Office of Apprenticeship, Cynthia McLain, as well as workshops on instructional design techniques, hands-on teaching, and other learning sessions.
The bill would provide $12.4 billion in funding for the Federal Transit Administration, $657 million above the FY 2016 enacted level. Transit formula grants total $9.7 million. About $2.4 billion would go toward "New Starts" funding, including $1.5 billion for current Full Funding Grant Agreement transit projects, according to an APTA legislative summary.
The survey, Public Transportation-2017, found 83 percent of Americans have some type of public transportation option available where they live or work; 71 percent of those have used it at some point; and 51 percent have opted to use public transportation instead of driving in the past 12 months.
Last week, the New York City Council passed a bill that requires the NYC Department of Transportation to study and propose solutions to subway deserts - neighborhoods with poor access to a system whose average weekday ridership is more than 5 million.
It's a good project - upgrading Nashville's busiest bus route, according to Barry, and serving a working-class part of town. The question, however, is whether Nashville will also move forward on much-needed bus improvements that could make a difference citywide.
Most modern streetcars in the U.S. have been built with economic development, not transportation, as their primary goal. The two oldest systems, Portland (2001) and Seattle (2007), offer the best snapshot of economic impact, although with six more systems built since 2014, a more comprehensive picture of benefits and challenges will begin to emerge in the next few years.
It's a complex problem that takes a lot of forms, but it comes down to this simple point: Amtrak thinks that passenger trains should get preference over freight trains. (Passengers probably feel the same way.) The companies that manage those freight trains feel differently. And there's a lot of competition for these limited resources.
As work on the rebuilding of the section of the Interstate 85 bridge that collapsed last month progresses, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) hopes to keep its new passengers.
Toward the goal of improving transit for the South Side, Kay Hertz recommends waking a "sleeping giant" by leveraging the full potential of the Metra: by connecting its payment system to the CTA's, by making its trips more frequent and by modernizing the city's buses, which have an outsized effect on South Side Chicagoans.
When city residents went to bed Sunday night, their bus network was a relic from the 1970's, when the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) was established. When they woke up this morning, their redesigned bus network was markedly updated.
IndyGo was counting on a $75 million federal Small Starts grant to pay for most of the Red Line's $96 million first phase, a 14-mile stretch from 66th Street in Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis. Congress could appropriate additional money in the future.
If officials in the Washington region have any hope of fixing Metro, they must find dedicated funding for it, and soon, according to a new report presented to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments - $650 million a year worth.
The 41-year-old D.C. transit system has never been run by a private entity, and transportation researchers say the success of privatization in transit systems is mixed.
Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) board has approved a new "wholesale electricity portfolio policy" that requires the agency to use more renewable energy.
Public transit receives more than 10 percent of the annual funds, with a significant share of the funding distributed via formula, providing transit operators statewide with increased predictable funding. In addition to this regular funding for operators, the bill dedicates $245 million per year to the Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program, which funds upgrades and expansions for statewide rail projects. The bill also includes a new commuter rail program that will help support Caltrain, SMART and ACE services.
Yesterday, Congress came out with a funding package that keeps the government operating until the end of September. Officially, it's known as the omnibus appropriations package for fiscal year 2017. Unofficially, it's a Republican Congress ignoring the wishes of President Donald J. Trump, and for transit projects around the country, it's what amounts to good news these days.
The funding would come from a number of sources, including $200 billion in direct federal funding. One controversial option is hiking the federal gasoline tax. On Monday, Trump told Bloomberg News he would "certainly consider" such a measure... Other "innovative" ways to pay for it may include the sale of government assets and through the repatriation of corporate profits from overseas, Chao added.
The federal government pulled the brakes on Caltrain's shovel-ready project earlier this year. The $2 billion Modernization Program is still awaiting word on a $647 million federal grant, which passed all the vetting benchmarks by staff but was put on hold in February. Caltrain contends electrifying 51 miles of track and purchasing new trains would reduce carbon emissions while making room for its expanding 65,000-weekday ridership.
Lyft riders now have the opportunity to walk to a predetermined location, climb aboard a vehicle that will travel a set route to a predesignated drop-off point, and pay a flat rate for the service. If it walks like a bus, talks like a bus, and quacks like a bus ... it's probably a billion-dollar, venture-backed startup.
The Bridj story is a caution to everyone that providing quality mobility services is expensive and hard work. Whether the public or private sector provides those services, we need to focus on breaking down the barriers to success. Perhaps what happened to Bridj will underscore the point that the answer to better public transportation cannot always (or often) be found in privatization.
The agency's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on Friday withdrew the proposal after issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking last April that would have required states to inspect passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles once a year.
Toronto may be North America's most fascinating transit city. It has virtually every mode in abundance and its per capita ridership is far above any US city except New York.
