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Metrolink Gets State Funding for Locomotives — The South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board in the Los Angeles area has approved $22.85 million for Metrolink commuter rail from the state’s Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, which funds cleaner-than-required engines and equipment. The award will help fund up to 20 additional new Tier 4 passenger locomotives, which reduce particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 85 percent compared to current Tier 0 locomotive engines.

Md. MTA Opens Park-and-Ride — The Maryland Transit Administration opened a new commuter bus park-and-ride in Waldorf, MD, on Dec. 1. The $10.5 million lot includes parking for 550 vehicles with ADA-compliant spaces and a bus access loop with adjacent shelters, sidewalks and lighting. Environmentally-friendly “pervious” (porous) concrete pavers allow rainwater to pass through the parking surface instead of running directly into drains. Beneath the pervious material, water can seep slowly into the ground and filter naturally, reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that enter the Chesapeake Bay through tributaries.

Cummins Ships First QSK95 Engine for Rail — Cummins Inc. recently shipped its first production 95-liter, 16-cylinder QSK95 engine built to a rail specification to the Siemens manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA, for installation in a Charger locomotive. The Charger diesel-electric passenger locomotive will be part of a five-state, 35-unit initial order with the Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington DOTs.

TransitCenter Awards Grants — TransitCenter, a foundation dedicated to improving urban mobility, recently awarded nine grants totaling $838,700 to organizations contributing original work to the field. Project topics include co-creative planning of transit corridors, which will pilot methods of engaging the public in transportation planning; training seminars for local officials and public transit agency staff to apply the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ upcoming Design Guidelines for Transit Streets (also commissioned in part by TransitCenter); and short films documenting interesting programs at public transit agencies around the country.

BART’s New Tech Training — The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) has launched an innovative training program in partnership with Bay Area community colleges and local workforce investment boards to provide up to 100 students with the technical knowledge to pursue transit-related careers, including careers at BART. The program, called Transit Career Ladders Training, will promote transportation careers in low-income areas, unemployed and underemployed communities and among minorities, veterans and women; it is funded by a $750,000 FTA Ladders of Opportunity grant.

DART First State’s New Route for Amazon Employees — DART First State has seen impressive ridership growth on its new route between Wilmington and Middletown, DE, scheduled to meet the shift times of Amazon employees and serve a Walmart Supercenter. The route carried approximately 150 people in its first week but provided nearly 1,000 rides by the sixth week.

HART, Local College ‘Green-Up’ — The Environmental and Sustainability Management Program of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) in Tampa, FL, recently created a partnership with students at St. Petersburg College’s College of Business. Seniors enrolled in the college’s Sustainability Management Degree curriculum must complete a 16-week sustainability improvement project before graduation; HART invites the students to apply the theories and concepts they’ve learned to real-world environmental initiatives at HART, which the agency will use for future green initiatives.

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