Center Update 
The Center Welcomes Four New Members to its Board of Directors


The Center is proud to announce that four leaders in the transportation industry have agreed to join its Board of Directors. These four new members join a distinguished list of transportation and workforce development leaders from labor and management in helping steward the Center's mission to build programs that strengthen human capital in the public transportation industry nationally and at the local level towards a long and sustainable future.
 
To see the Center's full Board of Directors visit our website.
Public Transportation
Senior executives from transit agencies around the country said Monday they are perplexed by President Trump's proposed cuts to federal grants aimed at funding transportation infrastructure and public transit projects - especially in light of his pledges to improve the quality of the nation's rail systems.
Mass Transit Magazine - March 18, 2108
The American Public Transportation Association's annual Legislative Conference kicked off in Washington, D.C. Sunday, March 18, where many discussions focused on what the most critical issue facing the industry is: funding, financing and responding to emerging technologies being three of the top contenders.
TransitCenter - March 13, 2018
When it comes to increasing transit ridership, fare policy is an underutilized strategic tool. But a few transit agencies are demonstrating how it can be used to attract (or in some cases, repel) transit riders. Capital Metro in Austin reduced complexity and inequity in its system in early 2017 by returning to a standard single bus fare across all its service. King County Metro in Seattle reduced transit fares for youth on summer break. The changes resulted in ridership jumps of more than 30 percent Austin's Metro Rapid service and for youth riders in Seattle.
Mobility Lab - March 14, 2018
The researchers suggested that the car's cultural dominance played a role, as well as "the fact that car costs are often underestimated because they are partially paid delayed over time." This means that because people don't pay to drive every time they get behind the wheel, but instead pay through car payments, insurance, maintenance, and gas, these "hidden costs" tend to be underestimated.
StreetsBlog San Francisco - March 13, 2018
Congestion pricing is something transit and safe-streets advocates have long supported. Still, it's a tough political lift for an obvious reason: motorists never want to pay the full costs of driving. But in the few cities where it has been tried-and one has to go overseas to find them-congestion pricing has resulted in better traffic flow, better bus reliability and speed, and safer streets.
StreetsBlog Chicago - March 14, 2018
The fixed route bus, that dinosaur of transportation technology, is also the most efficient urban-transit prospect of the future, transit guru [and editor of Human Transit] Jarrett Walker said in Chicago Tuesday.
Greater Greater Washington - March 16, 2018
Nationally, only seven urban areas with a population of at least a million people have a predominant mode of transit other than buses. Most of these cities, like DC, rely primarily on heavy rail systems. A couple of exceptions include San Juan, where more informal, taxi-like service - públicos - are the most common form of transit, or Salt Lake City, where the region's light rail system is the most popular.  
Transit System/Partners
Metro Magazine - March 13, 2018
In partnership with the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission (SMAC), the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) unveiled four light rail trains that have been wrapped with art designed by four local artists.
The San Francisco Examiner - March 14, 2018
San Francisco's iconic cable cars are hoisted uphill by 35-year-old wheels called "sheaves," which pull massive steel cables at 9.5 miles per hour. Now, those 25 underground sheaves will be rebuilt from the ground up as part of an already-planned replacement of the motorized gearboxes that rotate those pulleys.
Progressive Railroading - March 16, 2018
Under the governor's proposed budget, NJ Transit would receive an additional $242 million to support rail and bus operations for a total of $383 million, NJ.com reported. The funds also would help fill gaps in staffing.
The Washington Post - March 17, 2018
It's an urgent injection of funding to chip away at a maintenance backlog built up over decades, agency leaders contend. Metro would embark on power upgrades to fuel all eight-car trains, modernize the vast majority of its railcar fleet and repair tracks and structural components that have been neglected. The agency would replace a pair of crumbling bus garages and undergo a sweeping replacement of track circuits critical to detecting the locations of trains. By 2026, Metro would reduce its $6.8-billion repair backlog to just over $2 billion, the plan says.
Economic Issues
Metro Magazine - March 14, 2018
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) raised concern over the small amount of transit projects that received Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants from the US DOT and urged the Administration to recognize the vital importance of public transportation in the nation. Only 3.6% of the TIGER grants that were recently announced went to public transit projects, representing a significant decrease in public transit TIGER grants.
Building Transportation Infrastructure
City Lab - March 13, 2018
At the National League of Cities' annual conference this week, mayors and city council members declared rebuilding infrastructure as their number-one priority in the year to come. And they're determined to negotiate better terms on Trump's infrastructure deal.
NPR - March 14, 2018
The Trump plan commits $200 billion in federal funding over 10 years to stimulate state and local spending and private investment. Half of the funding, $100 billion, would be used as incentives to entice cities, counties and states to raise at least 80 percent of the infrastructure costs themselves.
Tampa Bay Times - March 19, 2018
To give readers a sense of what's possible, the Tampa Bay Times compared the Tampa Bay plan to three existing systems: Pittsburgh, one of the oldest BRT lines in the country; Hartford, one of the newest; and Cleveland, which had long held the highest BRT rating in the United States (until Albuquerque opened its system in 2017 and took the top spot).
Safety and Health
Global Railway Review - March 7, 2018
A $4.3 million campaign has been launched by The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to educate the public on the dangers and necessary safety precautions when using level crossings.
International Transportation News
StreetsBlog USA - March 15, 2018
Combined with transit priority improvements like dedicated bus lanes, the city expects the increase in service put Montreal back on course to achieve its goal of a 40 percent transit ridership increase by 2020 compared to 2010 levels.
Green News
The New York Times - March 16, 2018
Study after study has found that people living in compact cities have a smaller carbon footprint than those in sprawling cities or suburban areas. This is partly because they often live in apartments that require less energy to heat and cool than large single-family homes, but also because they commute shorter distances and are more likely to walk or take public transit.
Vox - March 19, 2018
California state Sen. Scott Wiener's SB 827 - a sweeping approach to solve California's housing crisis by having the state government preempt local zoning ordinances and allow for greater density near rapid transit stations and high-frequency bus stops - is one of the most important ideas in American politics today.
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