July 26, 2019 – Earlier today, the Federal Transit Administration announced 38 grants to transit agencies for purchase of low or no emission buses, totaling $85 million.
July 19, 2019 – On July 16, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis held a hearing entitled “Solving the climate crisis: Cleaning up heavy duty vehicles, protecting communities”.
March 20, 2019 – What a difference a year makes. In 2019, the Trump Administration requested zero new funding for discretionary grant programs. In 2020, they are requesting $4 billion.
March 14, 2019 – Today, a bipartisan group of Senators, including the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee with jurisdiction over mass transit issues, introduced a bill that would ban U.S. transit agencies from buying rail cars or buses made by any company that is “owned or controlled by, is a subsidiary of, or is otherwise related legally or financially to a corporation” located in the People’s Republic of China.
December 5, 2018 – As the nation paused for the funeral of President George Herbert Walker Bush, his lasting mark on our transportation system shows through every time a bus kneels and deploys a ramp. Making transportation accessible to everyone is vitally important and has dramatically improved since his presidency.
November 30, 2018 – This week, the Federal Transit Administration announced that they are formally allocating fiscal 2018 appropriations for the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program for four new mass transit projects: the third section of the mammoth Los Angeles Westside Purple Line extension, plus smaller projects in Tempe, Arizona (a new streetcar system), Minneapolis, Minnesota (a new bus rapid transit system), and capacity upgrades in the Dallas, Texas DART rail system.
November 28, 2018 – Is the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program sitting on over a billion dollars of funding provided by Congress instead of providing that money to subway, light rail, and bus rapid transit projects across the country? Or is the CIG program a ticking time bomb with nearly $5 billion in unfunded liabilities that will come due in future years, when future Congresses are not legally bound to make good on those promises?
November 8, 2018 – Voters approved five of the 10 largest transportation ballot measures by dollar amount this Election Day, with four failing and one still too close to call.
November 2, 2018 – With the related announcement that the Eno Center has finally put the entire 57-year run of Traffic Quarterly (1947-1981) and Transportation Quarterly (1982-2003) online, some of the Eno staff have taken a look through those archives and singled out some articles that they found interesting or relevant.
October 25, 2018 – Public transportation will remain an essential part of our economies and transportation system, but it must leverage its strengths and evolve to meet today’s challenges.
October 4, 2018 – At a public event this morning, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao released her department’s long-awaited “AV 3.0” guidance document, formally called Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0.
September 27, 2018 – The Federal Transit Administration on September 25 announced the winning applicants for $366 million in federal grants for the competitive portion of the bus and bus facility grants program. The $366.2 million consists of $246.5 million in contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund provided by the FAST Act and $161.4 million in general fund appropriations from the FY 2018 omnibus act, reduced by an oversight takedown and prior grant announcements totaling $41.7 million.
August 24, 2018 – Today, the Federal Transit Administration announced the recipients of $84.4 million in grants to local transit agencies for the purchase of low-emission or zero-emission buses and related equipment.
August 1, 2018 – Last night, the U.S. Senate agreed to a one-year ban on any new procurements of mass transit rail cars or buses from companies owned or subsidized by the government of the People’s Republic of China, if the procurement uses any Federal Transit Administration formula funding.
July 27, 2018 – The House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2018 Homeland Security appropriations bill this week, the last of the twelve FY19 bills to be considered in committee in either the House or Senate.
May 31, 2018 – The surprise inclusion in the draft fiscal 2019 Transportation-HUD appropriations act of a provision banning the use of federal transit dollars to purchase transit vehicles from Chinese companies could have enormous implications for transit agencies in Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles – but it’s also about a long-term strategy to prevent Chinese rail car makers from getting into the separate U.S.
May 23, 2018 – House Members grilled recently confirmed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Ray Martinez on the delayed implementation of motor carrier provisions of the FAST Act at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Tuesday.
May 8, 2018 – Mass transit advocates in Nashville, Tennessee were dealt a crushing setback one week ago today when a referendum to approve a $6.6 billion mass transit capital program ($8.9 billion once operating and financing costs were factored in) was rejected by voters by almost a 2 to 1 margin.
April 13, 2018 – Uber announced Wednesday a series of new initiatives designed to work with cities in addressing challenges related to transportation and technology.
April 6, 2018 – The recently enacted FY18 appropriations bill makes $916 million available for new subway, light rail, streetcar and BRT projects. How does this money compare to the demands on the program?