Public Transportation 
2016 may have ushered in the age of the all-electric bus, as Jen Kinney wrote for Next City last year. If Stockton, California, is any indication, however, 2017 might just usher in the age of the all-electric BRT line.
Technically - August 18, 2017
CAM-TRAN, Cambria County's current transit system, is self-contained in the county. That said, efforts are underway with PennDOT to explore a bus transit option that would offer a commuter WiFi-enabled bus to from Johnstown to Pittsburgh on a daily basis.
Next City - August 22, 2017
SMART trains will stop at 10 stations between San Rafael and Santa Rosa, with 34 trains operating each day. New stations and extensions are already being planned as well, with Larkspur and Novato already under construction.
Transit System/Partners
StreetsBlog USA - August 16, 2017
Portland is the first major American city to enact a fare capping policy, according to TransitCenter. Trimet was responding to grassroots pressure for a fairer system, and international transit agencies in cities including London and Dublin have shown that fare capping works.
Next City - August 16, 2017
An underground light-rail tunnel, a streetcar expansion and solar panels on bus yards are among the projects outlined in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors' $21 billion, 20-year capital plan. The document is more wish list than blueprint, or, as the S.F. Examiner puts it, "a plan to perhaps plan, which would then be followed by another plan."
Progressive Railroading - August 18, 2017
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) joined Skanska and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) officials last week on a tour of the completed second phase of the Exposition light-rail project, which extended service from Culver City to Santa Monica, California. 
International Railway Journal -- August 22, 2017
The report explains that inter-city services, such as Los Angeles - San Diego, have a positive economic effect as they serve as a catalyst for economic development. Additionally, commuter rail, such as the San Francisco - San Jose Caltrain service, is noted for its positive impact. The report estimates that Caltrain riders save more than 200 tons of fuel emissions every day, representing 50,000 tons of CO2 annually, and equivalent to removing more than 10,000 vehicles from the road network.
AM New York - August 21, 2017
The MTA says it is sticking to its plan to launch a computerized signal system along the No. 7 line this year, despite challenges that could further delay the project and reports stating otherwise.
The Washington Post - August 22, 2017
President Trump signed a resolution Tuesday giving final approval to the long-awaited Metro Safety Commission, the last legislative step in the years-long effort to establish an oversight organization tasked with making Metro safer.
Economic Issues
The Washington Post - August 21, 2017
The Purple Line was spared partly because the project was so far advanced. In addition, the Trump administration is eager to promote it as a model for financing and operating major infrastructure projects by using public-private partnerships, in which governments team up with for-profit companies.
Transport Topics - August 21, 2017
The White House's recent announcement that an advisory council on infrastructure matters would not convene as planned should not derail efforts to achieve a long-term funding fix for the country's roads and bridges, policymakers and freight groups said.
Building Transportation Infrastructure
AASHTO Journal - August 18, 2017
Cancellation of the infrastructure council comes in the wake of the president ending two other advisory panels - the American Manufacturing Council, and the Strategic and Policy Forum - after corporate executives and labor leaders on those panels began resigning to protest Trump's Aug. 15 comments about recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.
Metro Magazine - August 22, 2017
If well managed, the political, public and stakeholder engagement process - where all of the key people involved are vested in the vision and goals of the project - can form the groundwork for timely project delivery.
Safety 
The Hill - August 21, 2017
In a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Monday, a group of lawmakers asked the agency to explain why it withdrew from the safety effort and requested copies of "all data and information" that were used to make the decision. 
International Transportation News
Planetizen - August 18, 2017
London's $20 billion high-capacity, high-frequency train line, which plans to start taking passengers late next year, is billed as Europe's biggest infrastructure project. It will be so fast that crucial travel times across the city should be cut by more than half." But the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union has sown doubts.
NPR -- August 22, 2017
Six years after a fatal crash caused China to throttle back its high-speed rail service, the country is relaunching the world's fastest inter-city lines, including one between Beijing and Shanghai that cuts an hour off the current travel time. The operating speed of the new bullet trains, known as "Fuxing," or "Rejuvenation," will be 217 mph, according to Chinese media.
Green News
The Hill - August 15, 2017
We know that making the switch to public transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing a low-emissions alternative to driving. The average passenger vehicle produces about 1 lb. of carbon dioxide per mile traveled whereas bus transit only produces .18 lbs. of CO2 at full capacity.
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