The public transportation industry is facing rapid and unprecedented change, driven by new technologies, emerging modal options and evolving stakeholder needs. To coincide with APTA’s Industry Leadership Week, Nov. 27-30 in Washington, DC, Passenger Transport invited a cross-section of industry leaders to share their insights into competing in the new mobility landscape. [More]

Commuter Rail Industry Making Significant PTC Progress

Commuter rail leaders outlined in a press call Nov. 14 the significant progress being made to install Positive Train Control (PTC) in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, demonstrating the industry’s commitment to safety and to reaching statutory milestones. The deadline for installation of PTC is Dec. 31, 2018, and for full implementation is December 2020. [More]

In Memoriam: Larrousse, NTI Executive Director

Paul Larrousse, 64, of East Brunswick, NJ, executive director since 2000 of the National Transit Institute in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, died Nov. 14. [More]

COMMENTARY

A Collaborative, Innovative, Multimodal Approach Will Define the Mobility Revolution

APTA COMMITTEE PROFILE

Innovative Funding, Finance, and Public Private Partnerships Committee

This is the latest in a series of columns showcasing APTA committees. The subject of this profile is the Innovative Funding, Finance, and Public Private Partnerships Committee, chaired since 2018 by Sharon Greene. [More]

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

NY MTA's Lhota Steps Down; TARC's Barker Announces Retirement

Joseph J. Lhota has stepped down as New York MTA chairman; J. Barry Barker has announced his retirement as executive director of the Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY. [More]

MORE NEWS HEADLINES

Agility, Calculated Risk and Support: Public Transit Board Members Discuss Leadership in a New Mobility Landscape

The new mobility landscape brings with it a renewed emphasis for public transit boards of directors to propel within their agencies the spirit of innovation required to take the public transportation industry into the future. Here, a cross-section of board leaders outlines its approach toward the changing nature of public transit board leadership. [More]

Future of Train Travel in the Pacific Northwest

Many community ­leaders in the Pacific Northwest envision strengthened connections among the three largest cities in the Cascadia megaregion: Seattle; Portland; and Vancouver, BC. A key component of that vision is an ultra-high-speed public transportation system that might reduce travel time among the three cities from more than eight hours to less than two. They believe such a transportation alignment could help create an international hub for innovative partnerships, significant job creation and enhanced entertainment activities. [More]

Texas High-Speed Train on the Right Track

Perhaps more than any other state, Texas is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, rooted in overcoming any challenge to take on ambitious projects and do big things. This reputation for independence is reflected today in the development of America’s first true high-speed train, connecting the rapidly growing North Texas and Houston metropolitan areas—the fourth and fifth largest economic hubs in the country. [More]

Overcoming Challenges to Bring High-Speed Rail to California

Ten years ago, when Californians went to the polls to decide whether the state should build a high-speed rail system, they voted, “Yes.”

They did so because they recognized that an environmentally clean, fast and efficient high-speed rail system would fundamentally transform how people move around the state, put people to work building the system, spur economic growth and new industries and help achieve our state’s ambitious environmental objectives. [More]

Safety: It's Everyone's Business at Maryland MTA

There are numerous challenges to implementing Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) SMS “fast-track,” but none that cannot be overcome with strong management will, determination and a formidable plan. [More]

Personnel Issues Affecting Public Transit

One of the biggest problems that rail systems and operators face is in regard to manpower. Public transit systems are being squeezed from a variety of directions. [More]

LIRR Opens Two Rebuilt Stations

As part of the installation of a second track for MTA Long Island Rail Road along 13 miles of the Ronkonkoma Branch, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recently opened a 3,000-square-foot station in Wyandanch, a hamlet incorporated in the town of Babylon, NY. It replaces a previous station built in 1986. [More]

SANDAG Completes SuperLoop Rapid Station Construction

Representatives of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the University of California at San Diego gathered recently to mark the completion of the final phase of upgrades for the nine-mile SuperLoop Rapid BRT line. [More]

UTA Breaks Ground for Multi-Purpose Bus Facility

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) recently broke ground on a drive-through bus maintenance facility that ultimately will house more than 250 CNG and electric buses. [More]

FRA Offering $272 Million in SOGR Grants

FRA issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Nov. 15 for more than $272 million in grant funding through the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. [More]

MTA to Purchase Grand Central, Rail Lines from Holding Company

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board has announced plans to purchase, for approximately $35 million, Manhattan’s historic Grand Central Terminal and two MTA Metro-North Railroad commuter rail lines from a private holding company. [More]

City of Folsom to Join SacRT

The Sacramento (CA) Regional Transit District and the city of Folsom have formalized an annexation agreement that will officially make the city a member entity of the district, effective Jan. 1, 2019. [More]

New CEOs Named

The Colorado Association of Transit Agencies and Operation Lifesaver Inc.have announced new chief executives. [More]

PSTA Employees Donate $6,000 to Ronald McDonald House

Members of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s Leadership PSTA Class of 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL, recently collected more than $6,000 from agency employees to adopt a room at a local Ronald McDonald House (RMH) for children receiving treatment at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital and their families. [More]

MBTA Buses to Benefit from Priority Pilot

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) joined representatives of Cambridge and Watertown, MA, at a recent event marking the official launch of the Mount Auburn Street Corridor Bus Priority Project, incorporating elements of BRT to bring more efficient and reliable service to more than 12,000 daily riders on two MBTA bus routes. [More]

TRB to Host Ridership Webinar

The Transportation Research Board will host a webinar Nov. 28, 2-3:30 Eastern time, that will explore how changes in demographics, traveler preferences and markets for public transportation affect ridership now and in the future. [More]

ELERTS Announces Transit Security Grant Program

In reaction to the Department of Homeland Security’s award of Transit Security Grants to 20 public transit agencies to protect critical surface transportation and the public, ELERTS Corp., based in Weymouth, MA, has announced its own Transit Agency Security Grants for 10 to-be-selected public transit agencies. [More]