News Headlines

Congress Must Act to Extend Important Tax Provisions
BY CHRISTIAN RICHARDS, Legislative Analyst, AND BILLY TERRY, Senior Legislative ­Representative

As the end of 2013 approaches, Congress again faces a familiar slate of issues to address before certain tax laws expire, including several that remain important to the public transportation industry. [More]

Public Transit Wins at Ballot Box

On Nov. 12 in the final election of the 2013 election season, ­voters in Tulsa, OK, approved a $918.7 million capital improvement proposal that will extend a 1.1 percent sales tax and a $355 million bond package that provides $30 million to transit, including a Bus Rapid Transit project. The proposal, called Improve Our Tulsa, passed by about 70 percent. [More]

Post Sandy: Agencies Moving to Recovery

Hurricane Sandy was the worst natural disaster to strike the Northeast when it slammed into the coast on Oct. 29, 2012, making landfall near Atlantic City, NJ, and causing area public transportation agencies to shut down. [More]

New Calculator Helps Users Make Informed Decisions

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled a cost calculation tool that will allow users to estimate transportation and housing costs for neighborhoods across the country. [More]

COG Official Ronald Kirby Dies

Ronald Kirby, 69, the director of transportation planning at the Metropolitan Washington Council of ­Governments (COG), died Nov. 11 in Alexandria, VA. Authorities have ruled his death a homicide. [More]

Ride On Opens New Public Transit Center Named for Planner, System Architect

Montgomery County Transit Services (Ride On) in suburban Maryland recently opened the new David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center (EMTOC), named for the late David F. Bone, Ride On’s senior planner from its creation in 1973 until 2000. Agency officials say to their knowledge, it is the nation’s only public transit operations facility named for the planner who designed the system. [More]

Underground Concourse Opens at World Trade Site

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and its partners have opened the World Trade Center West Concourse, an underground pedestrian link that connects the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation rail station at the World Trade Center site with Brookfield Place Pavilion, formerly known as the World Financial Center. [More]

Public Transportation Honors Vets

On the second annual Public Transportation Supports America’s Veterans Day, APTA and dozens of public transportation agencies nationwide participated in several activities that “put out the welcome mat” for military personnel, including those who are looking for civilian careers. [More]

APTA Strengthens Global Partnerships

In early November, APTA hosted officials from several international transit organizations to strengthen its relationships, exchange information and best practices, identify mutual challenges and issues, and explore opportunities for collaboration. [More]

A Royal Way to Remember UK Veterans

The United Kingdom’s Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, ride a Transport for London’s iconic Routemaster bus.  [More]

Special Feature

There’s No Place Like Home: A Talk with GMs Who Provide Transit Service in Their Hometowns
BY SUSAN BERLIN Senior Editor

All public transportation general managers need to demonstrate a commitment to the communities in which they work, but some have an additional link: They provide service in the city or town where they grew up. [More]

Commentary

Infrastructure: Where Bipartisanship Works
BY FAWN JOHNSON Correspondent, National Journal

If you want a lesson in bipartisanship, check out the transportation committees in both the House and the Senate over the last several years. In the last Congress, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer of California, an unapologetic liberal, and then-ranking member James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a serious conservative, put together a consensus surface transportation bill that eventually became the first highway bill that was enacted without earmarks. [More]

Around the Industry

DART, Partners Introduce Free Downtown Shuttle

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)—through a partnership with the city of Dallas and Downtown Dallas Inc.—introduced D-Link buses, a free circulator serving downtown and neighboring districts. [More]

SEPTA Facility Achieves Top Environmental Certification

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia has announced that its Environmental and Sustainability Management System at Berridge Bus Overhaul Facility and Print Shop in North Philadelphia has achieved ISO 14001:2004 certification. [More]

Little Rock Area Buses Test Free Wi-Fi

The Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) in North Little Rock has launched a pilot project on two bus routes to determine the feasibility of outfitting its entire fleet with the hardware necessary to provide passengers with wireless Internet access. [More]

Lytx: New Name for DriveCam Inc.

DriveCam Inc. has changed its company name to Lytx Inc. The company’s flagship product will now be called DriveCam, powered by Lytx™. [More]

HNTB Study: More of the Public Open to Using Public Transit

Approximately 76 percent of Americans are open to taking ­public transportation instead of driving as the cost to own and operate a vehicle rises, according to a new America THINKS survey from HNTB Corp. That’s an increase from 69 percent in 2010, when HNTB last asked this question. [More]

APTA MEMBER PROFILE

Meet Janice Thomas!

This is the latest in an ongoing series of columns showcasing APTA members. The subject of this profile is Janice Thomas, senior director, Office of Business Diversity & Civil Rights at METRA. [More]

MEET THE APTA STAFF

Meet Joe Niegoski!

This is the latest in an ongoing series of columns showcasing members of the APTA staff. The subject of this profile is Joe Niegoski, director of educational services, Workforce Development-Educational Services Department. [More]

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Who's doing what in the industry

Passenger Transport announces the following hirings and promotions in public transportation agencies and business members. Items appear in People on the Move in the order in which they are received. [More]