In Portland, Ore., TriMet’s WES Commuter Rail celebrated its fifth anniversary with more people climbing on board than ever before. Since the line opened on February 2, 2009, riders have taken more than 1.9 million trips on WES. Ridership has climbed each year reaching more than 476,000 in 2013.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) will undertake a $10-million project to upgrade the power supply for Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line beginning on February 3. The project will prevent the type of catastrophic power failure that occurred this past fall in Mount Vernon, N.Y.,
The Chicago Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors recently authorized issuance of up to $100 million of 30-year general obligation RTA bonds to finance multiple state of good repair projects to bolster the condition of the region’s transit infrastructure.
“State and federal dollars are not sufficient to support our capital needs, so the RTA is using its bonding authority to keep our region in a state of good repair,” said RTA Board Chairman John Gates, Jr. “Our region needs approximately $33 billion to bring the existing system to a state of good repair. The RTA is meeting a portion of the need with this bond issuance. The recent favorable reports from the three ratings services only reinforce the importance of the RTA and its ability to benefit the region in this way.”
The bonding will fund projects that benefit the region’s public transit riders through enhancements to Chicago Transportation Authority, Metra and Pace bus capital assets, specifically tied to state of good repair, in the categories of rolling Stock, track and structure, electric signal and communications and stations and passenger facilities
Qualifying projects would include projects that upon completion would have a useful life of at least 20 years; projects that will reduce the region’s state of good repair backlog and projects that replace assets, which fall into the category of “worn” or “marginal” as identified in the Capital Asset Condition Assessment.
In Portland, Ore., TriMet has called upon on the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) to represent employees on the issues of wages and benefits before the 150-day statutory bargaining period ends on February 4.
The Metra Board of Directors unanimously selected Donald Orseno, a lifelong railroader who has worked at Metra for more than three decades, as the next executive director/CEO of the Chicago suburban rail agency.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated $27 million in new funding to three projects that it says will improve passenger rail and further strengthen the state’s economy.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) awarded a $24-million contract to repair and rehabilitate three bridges spanning the Merrimack River in Haverhill to JV: LM Heavy Civil Construction and Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti – CMC di Ravenna. The bridge work will allow the MBTA to continue to operate safe and reliable passenger rail service on the Haverhill Line.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed an alternative process for 565 federally recognized Native American tribes to review positive train control (PTC) antennas in a public notice posted on the FCC website Jan. 29.
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) Governing Board named Jack Stephens interim executive director. He replaces Joseph Giulietti, who is leaving SFRTA at the end of January to become president of Metro-North Railroad in New York City. Stephens has served as the SFRTA’s deputy executive director since May 2003.
A surge in train travel during the last three months of 2013 helped boost Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) ridership for the second year in a row with the LIRR recording a two percent jump in passenger rides over 2012 totals.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver, Colo., held three public meetings in January to seek input and provide an update on the Northwest Area Mobility Study (NAMS).
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was awarded a contract from the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) to provide monitoring and technical assistance for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant and loan Program.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a rule in the Jan. 24 edition of The Federal Register, amending the Federal Track Safety Standards to promote the safety of railroad operations by enhancing rail-flaw detection processes.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has received more than $886 million in federal aid to help cover costs associated with repairs from Superstorm Sandy, primarily in the Montague, Greenpoint and Steinway subway tunnels, and to make New York’s transportation system more resilient to any future storms.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT) will begin the latest round of ongoing work to modernize, improve and fortify NYCT’s Flushing 7 Line in February.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) implemented a final rule it says will significantly cut red tape, while achieving better environmental outcomes, for certain transit and highway projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and spur them towards completion more quickly than in years past.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) released the first draft five-year MassDOT Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for FY2014-FY2018, a $12.4-billion program that will create growth and opportunity for residents across the commonwealth.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut will retire January 31, Joseph Giulietti has been named his successor.
Regional Transportation District (RTD) manager Ashland Vaughn will lead the construction of the RTD FasTracks North Metro Rail Line as the new project manager beginning January 12.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has entered into an agreement for a new commuter rail contract with Keolis Commuter Services.