Get Key Transportation News Delivered to Your Inbox

Stay up to date with the our Weekly Update that provides information about transit issues from new transportation infrastructure to the green jobs movement. Receiving our Weekly Update is also a great way to stay informed on what the Center is working on now.
Read More...

D.C. Metro expects to tap ex-N.J. transit chief as interim general manager

March 3, 2010: Metro's board of directors hopes to appoint former New Jersey Transit chief Richard Sarles as interim general manager on Thursday for the next six to 12 months, according to Metro Chairman Peter Benjamin.
Read More...

LACMTA adds underground alternative to Regional Connector study

March 3, 2010: The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (LACMTA) board recently approved the addition of a new underground light-rail alternative beneath Little Tokyo to the Regional Connector Transit Corridor study that's under environmental review. The Regional Connector would complete a nearly two-mile transit gap between the Metro Gold, Blue and future Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles.
Read More...

Railroads have until April 16 to submit PTC roll-out plans

March 3, 2010: The months-long wait for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to issue a final implementation rule on positive train control (PTC) ended for U.S. railroads on Jan. 12. Now, the 30 roads affected by the federal PTC mandate - including the Class Is, Amtrak and 22 commuter railroads - have a few months to pore over the rule and ensure their implementation plans comply before they submit them to the FRA by the April 16 deadline.
Read More...

AC Transit Bus Fight

February 24, 2010: California - A recent report by state and federal transportation officials revealed that many mass transit passengers have fear of being harmed by their fellow passengers. There is a video on YouTube featuring a bloody fistfight on an AC Transit bus between two passengers of bus.
Read More...

Metro could face takeover if Senate safety ultimatum isn’t met

February 24, 2010: Four senior U.S. senators made a bipartisan call on Monday for Metro to make immediate improvements in safety or face "direct federal intervention," which could include a federal takeover of the transit agency's board of directors.
Read More...

Two NYC-area projects to advance after feds dole out stimulus dollars

February 24, 2010: New York - Yesterday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will award an $83.3 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program grant for the Moynihan Station project in New York City. The project calls for converting a former post office into a train station named after the late Sen. Daniel Moynihan.
Read More...

N YC Transit testing subway arrival notification program on A, C lines

February 17, 2010: Transit officials are quietly trying out a new system to notify subway passengers when the next train is arriving - and it may be cheap enough to spread citywide.
Read More...

Make It Work

February 17, 2010: The only way to solve the jobs problem is to throw money at it. Here are four creative programs that would help the economy now. The country having to endure long periods of high unemployment is wholly unnecessary for the simple reason that we know how to prevent it.
Read More...

Why Green Jobs Should Be Union Jobs

February 17, 2010: Thousands of "green jobs" have been created by President Obama's stimulus package; millions more will be created by proposed climate legislation; tens of millions will be required to create the low-carbon economy that scientists say is necessary for the survival of the earth as we know it.
Read More...

Transit Agencies, Unions Make Joint Push for Federal Operating Support

February 10, 2010: More voices are calling on Congress to increase federal support for transit agencies that continue to grapple with fare hikes and service cuts. The Community Transportation Association of America, which represents small transit agencies across the country, and the Amalgamated Transit Union recently announced a new national coalition called The Alliance for Transit Operating Assistance, focused on this cause.
Read More...

Comparing the Largest Rail Systems in U.S.

February 3, 2010: A transparency prepared by the folks at GOOD provides a comparison of five large subway-based transit systems in areas of ridership, miles per trip, average speed and highest percentage of vehicles operating at one time.
Read More...

Metro has list of candidates to lead transit agency in interim

February 10, 2010: Metro board Chairman Peter Benjamin said board members are reviewing a long list of candidates to identify an interim leader for the transit agency who can step in when General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. departs April 2.
Read More...

Transit: You Can’t Work if You Can’t Get There

February 3, 2010: Ohio - President Obama's speech in Lorain County, OH on Friday gives us a good excuse to examine more than just jobs in this Cleveland suburb. Obama alluded to one obstacle - and a key to his jobs agenda - that went overlooked in most media coverage: "You can't get to work or go buy groceries like you used to because of cuts in the county transit system."
Read More...

D.C. Metro to test regional response to attacks in transit system with three safety exercises

February 3, 2010: Gunfire and explosions in the Metro system? Well, it's all going to be simulated this month during three drills designed to test Metro's response to such events and its coordination with law enforcement and emergency agencies throughout the Washington region.
Read More...

Finding ways to put D.C.’s Metro system back on track

February 3, 2010: Washington, DC - For months, the Washington Metro system, once one of the most admired transit systems in the country, has seemed to be at the lowest point in its history - forced to make painful budget choices, facing a hole in top management and struggling to recover from a series of fatal accidents that called its safety into question.
Read More...

Upwardly mobile

January 27, 2010: MIT professor speaks out on transit, technology in emerging economies. Ralph Gakenheimer is a Fulbright Scholar, World Bank Advisor, and MIT professor of urban planning who has emerged as one of the leading experts on transportation in developing countries. In the 1970s he consulted with the mayors of South American cities such as Medellin (for real!) on their transit plans. Today he's working in Asia and Africa.
Read More...