Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
May 29, 2015
Key highway and transportation groups said they are “disappointed” with the two-month highway patch passed by Congress that is expected to be signed soon by President Obama, reportsBloomberg BNA. The Senate cleared the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (H.R. 2353) (96 DER A-12, 5/19/15), a two-month extension of highway and transit programs, by voice vote during an early morning...
May 22, 2015
An Amtrak train crossing the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge in Maryland. Photographer: Chuck Gomez from the Amtrak Corporate Collection. The discussion about rail in the United States ran unabated this week as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continued its investigation of the derailment of Amtrak Train #188 north of Philadelphia. NARP explained in this blog post how this has pla...
May 15, 2015
NARP team was front and center in the wake of the tragic Amtrak Train #188’s derailment in Philadelphia on May 12. President and CEO Jim Mathews appeared on NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show”and CBS Baltimore, while VP Sean Jeans-Gail appeared on “CNN Newsroom.” Mathews and Jeans-Gail also did numerous interviews and provided infrastructure data to numerous media outlets. The day after the...
May 8, 2015
A Metra train route departs Chicago from Union Station. Image courtesy of Douglas Rahden.We’re learning more about the impact of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s (R) budget cuts – and it could be worse than we thought. Amtrak, Metra, CTA, Pace and Downstate bus services are all poised to see serious service reductions and fare increases. NARP thinks it’s time to change the conversation, so we're join...
May 1, 2015
Image via Flickr user Lee Rentz NARP President and CEO Jim Mathews used an upcoming editorial in Passenger Train Journal to urge Amtrak to change course on its Silver Service food and beverage experiment on the Meteor and the Star. Amtrak’s so-called “Experiment” will test how full meals and their prices affect ridership, Sleeper bookings, and the overall revenue of the train, writes Ma...