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Bay Area Transit Agencies Eye Federal Oversight Proposal with Caution
The Bay Area's major transit agencies are reacting with caution to news that the Obama administration will propose a federal takeover of subway and light-rail system safety regulation. Though administration officials have not yet released the proposal, Muni and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail systems, as well as all BART operations, would likely be included in a new oversight system.
November 16, 2009
Obama Administration’s Transit Safety Rules to Eventually Apply to Buses
The Obama administration's proposal
for a new federal role in transit safety oversight would eventually
apply to buses, although the first round of rules would be directed at
subways and light rail, according to the U.S. DOT.
November 16, 2009
Hesitation and Praise Greet Obama Administration’s Transit Safety Plan
Details of the Obama administration's proposal to carve out a federal presence overseeing transit safety, first reported yesterday
by the Washington Post, have yet to cross the desks of some top
lawmakers and industry stakeholders. But reaction to the idea, both
positive and hesitant, is plentiful this morning.
November 16, 2009
Streetfilms: Bill Lind, a Conservative Voice for Transit
At last month's Rail-Volution conference in Boston, Streetfilms was able to grab a few moments with William Lind, a politically conservative transit advocate. Lind aims to provide "liberal transit advocates" the language to build support for public transportation (okay, just rail) in terms that conservatives can relate to. Some of Lind's arguments don't reflect our views here at Streetfilms, especially his disdain for buses (which we don't cover in this video), but he makes a thought-provoking case for transit investment. Streetsblog readers won't want to miss his critique of highway spending as a massive government intervention.
November 12, 2009
Work to Begin Friday on N-Judah Rail Replacement
After taking a beating from the never-ending flow of traffic on 19th Avenue and Sunset Boulevard for 30 years, the N-Judah's track will be replaced where it intersects with those two streets starting Friday. For the next two weekends and the first weekend in December, crews will work to rip up the track and replace it with longer-lasting rail, at a total cost of $2 million. The work is part of the MTA's $18 million Rail Improvement Project, which will also include sections of the J-Church and L-Taraval lines, drawing on local, state and federal funds.
November 10, 2009
Clinton’s Budget Director Backs Congestion Pricing, VMT Tax
Alice Rivlin, now at the Brookings Institution, is one of the capital's most experienced economic hands.
November 10, 2009
Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, and the Future of Privately Run Transit
Virginia Railway Express (VRE), the commuter network that links northwest Virginia to Washington D.C., today refused
a challenge by Amtrak to its decision to switch operating providers to
the U.S. arm of Keolis, a private French transit company.
November 4, 2009
A Republican Returns to Congress With A Map to Transportation Reform
During his 24 years in Congress, former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) was known for
a brand of Republicanism now considered endangered. An ardent
environmentalist and defender of objective government science, he
played a key role in drafting the acid rain limits that are serving as a model for this year's climate change fight.
October 29, 2009
How Bus Transit Can Help the Auto Industry
When Vice President Joe Biden visited
Minnesota's New Flyer bus company to tout the economic stimulus law's
$8.4 billion investment in transit, hopes were high for a boom in
cleaner-burning vehicle production -- which made for some bad press when the nationwide transit funding crunch forced New Flyer to lay off 13 percent of its workers.
October 26, 2009
Senate Climate Bill Triples the House’s Investments in Clean Transportation
The Senate environment committee released new details of its climate
change legislation over the weekend, including the share of "emissions allowances"
-- the revenue generated by regulating carbon in a cap-and-trade system
-- that the bill would reserve for various sectors of the American
economy.
October 26, 2009