Passenger Transport Express - 10/14/2016 (Plain Text Version)HEADLINE NEWSDOT Announces $14.7 Million to Improve Transit Access in Select Communities
FTA announced that 16 organizations around the country will receive a share of $14.7 million in grants to support comprehensive planning projects that improve access to public transportation. FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers announced the grants in San Francisco at the 2016 Rail~Volution Conference, a gathering of professionals dedicated to building livable communities with public transit. Click here for the list of organizations. DOT Secretary Foxx Acknowledges PTC Is Difficult for Agencies to Implement
DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters from The Hill Oct. 12 that he is not satisfied with the rate at which U.S. railroads are implementing positive train control (PTC), but he also acknowledged that financial constraints have limited the pace of progress at public transit systems. “In the transit agencies, it’s particularly challenging. They’re running their systems at such thin margins that the cost of getting positive train control adopted is significant relative to their budgets,” he said. “That’s not an excuse, that’s just a fact.” Nearly $65 Million Awarded to Support Advanced Technology in Transportation
DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Oct. 13 that local communities across the country will receive nearly $65 million in grants to support advanced technology transportation projects. Foxx was at the White House Frontiers Conference on the future of innovation, where he discussed how new transportation innovations are reshaping U.S. cities. APTA and Coalition Send Letter to Clinton and Trump on Infrastructure Plans
APTA and 32 other organizations signed letters to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump applauding their support for “dramatic increases in infrastructure investment” and urging them to include in their proposals “additional sustainable revenue to ensure the permanent solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.” The signatories offered to help formulate a meaningful infrastructure proposal. Separately, at the invitation of the Trump transition team, Andrew Brady, APTA senior director, government affairs, and Acting President & CEO Richard White, briefed Martin Whitmer, a transportation attorney and former congressional staffer who is working on transportation issues, on the need for increased investment in public transit infrastructure. SAVE THE DATE
High-Speed Rail Policy Forum IN THE MEDIA
Miami-Dade is advancing transit, connected vehicles, ITS and the Internet of Things
Read what APTA members say about creating regional public transit in northeast Ohio
Former DOT Sec. Ray LaHood "gets serious" about infrastructure needs and solutions NOTABLE & QUOTABLE
“The Obama Administration is proud to partner with forward-leaning communities with plans to develop around transit options that connect hardworking families to jobs, education and opportunity.” |