Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
October 16, 2015
As pressure on Congress to pass a transportation bill continues, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) says his panel will mark up a long-term bill to renew highway and transit programs on Oct. 22, reports BNA. A short-term highway patch expires Oct. 29, and House transportation panel ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has raised doubts about whether...
October 9, 2015
A CNBC breaking news item on Tuesday reported letter sent by Amtrak to the Senate Commerce Committee warning that they will suspend train service starting January 1 unless Congress extends the deadline for rail companies to install Positive Train Control (PTC) technology. The industry is currently required to have PTC installed by December 31, 2015. “A vast majority of our network would be inope...
October 2, 2015
Photo by By Martin Falbisoner, via Wikimedia Commons It went down to the wire, but Congress managed to pass a stopgap government spending bill mere hours before the midnight deadline. However, they settled for kicking the can down the road until December 11, with no real guide on how they are going to handle their legislative priorities, including the DRIVE Act. According to BNA, members f...
September 25, 2015
Despite earlier predictions from Senate transportation leaders, Congress’ newest stopgap budget proposal to avoid a government shutdown fails to extend a deadline for a rail safety technology—a decision that threatens to leave train passengers and freight shippers left stranded at the station come January 1. [ACT NOW to tell your elected officials that you depend on trains!] Congressional l...
September 18, 2015
Hotline #929 The week started with a hopeful announcement that there may be consensus building on a way forward for starting construction on a new train tunnel under the Hudson River, reports NorthJersey.com. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) asked President Obama to have the federal government cover half of the project’s estimated $20 billion cost, plus pote...