Passenger Transport Express - 10/14/2016 (Plain Text Version)

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HEADLINE NEWS

DOT 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.

The funds are made available through FTA’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning Pilot Program for communities developing new or expanded public transit systems. 

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.”

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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.

"These grants," he said, "will enable cities and rural communities to harness new technologies to tackle hard problems like reducing congestion, connecting people to mass transit and enhancing safety."

In total, the grants will be leveraged to bring almost $170 million in public and private investment to deploy smart city technologies in both large and small communities across the nation. This funding builds on U.S. DOT's Smart City Challenge, which encourages cities, federal agencies, universities and the private sector to work together making use of new technologies. [return to top]

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.

APTA shared the same materials with the Clinton transition team.


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SAVE THE DATE

High-Speed Rail Policy Forum
APTA Offices, Washington, DC
Nov. 30


APTA 2017 Business Member Board of Governors' Annual Business Meeting
Clearwater, FL
Jan. 25-27


APTA 2017 Transit CEOs Seminar
San Diego, CA
Feb. 11-14


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IN THE MEDIA

Miami-Dade is advancing transit, connected vehicles, ITS and the Internet of Things
FutureStructure; Oct. 10

 

Read what APTA members say about creating regional public transit in northeast Ohio
Cleveland.com; Oct. 10

 

Former DOT Sec. Ray LaHood "gets serious" about infrastructure needs and solutions
STRONGTOWNS; Oct. 6


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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.”

                                                                     U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx
                                                                     on FTA’s Transit-Oriented Development Planning Pilot Program
                                                                     Oct. 11, 2016 

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