Editorial: Gov. Christie’s Tunnel Vision






(The following editorial
appeared in the New York Times.) Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has made a
national name for himself by slashing spending on education and other vital
services. New Jersey’s children and other vulnerable residents are paying the
price. Now he wants to stall – and perhaps cancel – one of the most important
transportation projects in the country: a new railway tunnel under the Hudson
River linking New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan.

CSXT to pay millions for environmental cleanup






CSX Transportation has
agreed to pay the District of Columbia $7.5 million toward environmental
cleanup programs as part of a settlement reached this month after D.C.
inspectors witnessed pollutants leeching from the company’s Benning Road rail
yard, the Washington Post reports.

South shore plans weekend outages between Gary and South Bend






The South Shore is alerting
passengers to a series of planned temporary weekend construction outages. The
next weekend outage is planned for October 2-4. During these construction
related weekend outages the South Shore Line will not operate trains or shuttle
bus service in either direction between South Bend, Ind., and Gary Metro Center
beginning 2:30 a.m. Saturday thru 3:00 a.m. Monday.

CTA 2011 budget proposes no fare increases, service reductions






Chicago Transit Authority
President Richard L. Rodriguez proposed a $1.337-billion budget for 2011 that,
through cost-conscious management, maintains current fares and service levels.
Rodriguez said that the CTA is working diligently to deliver on its mission
while operating in a very tough economic environment. Despite limited
resources, it will also continue to focus attention on areas where strategic
investments will lay the foundation for future improvements and customer
benefits.

$50-million Recovery Act grant for Vermont high-speed rail






U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood announced $50 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act dollars for the State of Vermont to begin construction to
improve 190 miles of track between St. Albans and Vernon on Amtrak’s Vermonter
line. The improvements will result in increased speeds, reduced travel time and
greater reliability.

Sound Transit opens expanded lot for Puyallup Sounder riders






After four months of
construction, Sound Transit will open an expanded, upgraded parking lot at 5th
St. SW and 9th Ave SW in Puyallup, Wash., for Sounder riders on Oct. 4. Just
minutes from the Puyallup Sounder station, the lot, which opened for Puyallup
Fair attendees earlier this month, adds 219 parking spaces to 364 slots
currently provided at the station’s main lot and 182 spaces at two lots leased
by Sound Transit. Drainage, new lighting, and environmentally sustainable rain
gardens were also added.

CREATE signalization project begins construction






In February, U.S. DOT
announced that the CREATE Program would receive $100 million in Transportation
Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) funds under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to complete five projects. Work on the
first of those five projects began in July. The Broadview/LaGrange
signalization (Projects B4/B5) will install a new bi-directional computerized
Traffic Control System (TCS) along a seven-mile segment of the Indiana Harbor
Belt. This project will upgrade 21 hand-thrown switches to power switches. The
TIGER grant funded $11.7 million of the $13.7 million project. The remainder of
the funds was contributed by the freight railroads.

$184-million rail, bus hub for Anaheim Calif., approved






Plans for a large
transportation hub just east of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., that will
serve the region’s rail, bus and taxi passengers won unanimous approval from
the City Council on Sept. 28, the Orange County Register reports.

DART approves budget, financial plan to fund operations, expansion






The $1.25-billion FY 2011
budget and updated 20-year financial plan approved by the Dallas Area Rapid
Transit (DART) Board of Directors supports the doubling of DART Rail to 90 miles.
The FY 2010 budget was $1.6 billion. The decrease is primarily due to a lower
capital budget, largely the result of the completion of the Green Line this
December.

CTA moves open fare collection project forward






The Chicago Transit
Authority is preparing the next phase of its move toward an open fare payment
system that could introduce the use of contactless credit cards, debit cards
and prepaid cards to ride the system. 
CTA is issuing a Request for Proposal today on the design,
implementation, and operation of an open fare collection system.

Secretary LaHood sets 
next step in development of National Rail Plan






A long-term commitment is
needed to help freight and passenger rail accommodate future U.S. economic and
population growth. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced
these findings of a new report, Moving Forward: A Progress Report, that updates
the U.S. Department of Transportation’s efforts to develop a first-ever
comprehensive National Rail Plan (NRP).

Railroad realignment might go through North Pole, Alaska






Transportation experts will
take a closer look at realigning the railroad through North Pole, Alaska, thanks
to nearly $1 million in federal funding announced Sept. 27, the Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner reports.

LIRR limits service for signal modernization project at Jamaica






Long Island Rail Road
customers are advised that during two weekends in the fall – October 23-24 and
November 6-7 – there will be extremely limited LIRR service, especially between
Jamaica Station and Penn Station, as the LIRR cuts over to a modern signal and
switching control system at Jamaica, N.Y. As a result of the extremely limited
service, the LIRR advises that only customers traveling for essential business –
such as first responders (police, fire) and service employees with no other
alternatives – should use the LIRR during these two weekends. Customers
traveling for recreational purposes during this period should consider travel
on the Port Washington Branch or other travel alternatives.

VTA set BART Silicon Valley forum for design-build contractor community






The Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority (VTA) will host a Design Build Contract Information
Forum for the BART Silicon Valley Project at the San Jose Convention Center,
Thursday, September 30, 2010.

D.C Metro schedules Columbus Day weekend work






Washington, D.C., Metro
will close two Blue and Orange Line stations and there will be no Blue or
Orange Line service at the Metro Center Metrorail station during the three-day
Columbus Day Holiday Weekend from 10 p.m., Friday, Oct. 8, to closing on
Monday, Oct. 11, as the agency undertakes a major rehabilitation and rebuilding
project to improve safety, to comply with a recommendation made by the National
Transportation Safety Board and maintain service reliability and a state of
good repair.

Kicking the tires on the Huron Central deal






What do you get for 30
million bucks? To start, Huron Central Railway has "probably" agreed
to operate its line between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury until the end of its
lease with CP Rail in 2017, "possibly" longer, said Tony Martin, the
Sault’s MP, Sault This Week reports.

Governor plans $42 million for New York rail, port improvements






February 14, 2001

New
York Governor David A. Paterson announced approval of more than $42 million in
funding for 34 rail and port capital improvement projects in New York State.
Grants from the Renew and Rebuild New York Transportation Bond Act of 2005 and
the Governor’s Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program will fund these
infrastructure investments and security improvements, bringing with them
economic development and job creation and retention opportunities across the
State.

Amtrak envisions 220 mph service in Northeast Corridor






February 14, 2001

A Next-Generation
High-Speed Rail service could be successfully developed in the Northeast with
trains operating up to 220 mph on a new two-track corridor resulting in a trip
time of about three hours between Washington and Boston, cutting in half or
better the current schedules, according to a concept plan released by Amtrak.

Politicians argue over NJ/NY rail tunnel






February 14, 2001

When it comes to the
planned multibillion-dollar commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River, New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn’t doing much to build bridges, U.S. Sen. Frank
Lautenberg says, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. The longtime Democratic
senator said the Republican governor has refused to let NJ Transit engineers
and professional staff meet with federal transportation officials to break a
30-day construction delay that threatens to scuttle America’s largest public
works project.

Long, steep hill for Norfolk, Va., light rail






February 14, 2001

(The following commentary
appeared in The Virginian-Pilot
 September 26, 2010.) The Tide’s financial mismanagement
will cost Norfolk’s citizens millions of dollars more than originally planned. That’s
hardly news.

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