Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
November 20, 2015
With conference negotiations on the six-year surface transportation reauthorization still underway, NARP is closely monitoring proceedings to track the progress of three goals for the bill: include passenger rail as part of a comprehensive surface transportation bill; allow for flexibility in investing the $77 billion in general revenue used to fund the surface transportation bill; include predict...
November 13, 2015
Congress continued its work on forming the conference committee for the transportation bill. Staff was in preliminary negotiations on the timeline for conferees, and it’s unclear whether the final bill will be completed before the November 20 extension deadline. When it comes to the bill’s funding, Rep. Randy Neugebauer’s (R-Texas) amendment to tap a Federal Reserve fund could provide $40 b...
November 6, 2015
The House of Representatives' highway and transit bill was approved November 5 by a vote of 363 to 64, setting up a momentous round of negotiations between the House and the Senate on what the final transportation bill will look like. On November 4, NARP alerted passengers about some big opportunities—and threats—they should be aware of, including an easy cheat sheet created by Vice Presiden...
October 30, 2015
The House passed a three-week extension of highway and transit programs that included a three-year extension of the deadline to implement Positive Train Control (PTC). The Senate passed its own bill by voice vote on October 28 extending highway funding through Nov. 20. It has gone to President Obama for his signature. This marks the 35th short-term extension of surface transportation trust fund...
October 23, 2015
The House Committee on Transportation approved, by a voice vote, a surface transportation bill extending highway and transit funding at current levels for six years. Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) told reporters he believes a bill could come to floor of the full House “possibly next week or after.” While the bill did receive some bipartisan support, many pro-infrastructure Members of Congress...