With its recent acquisition of Granite City Passenger Terminal, St. Louis-based Gateway Rail Services will be able to offer even more services to its rail passengers, Gateway said on Monday. The Granite City Terminal is a warehouse and railcar storage facility situated near Granite City, Illinois. It has been set up to be used as a short- or long-term storage facility and is equipped with electricity and other utilities. It also features a 75,000-square-foot warehouse space and has been opera Read More »

A recent Heritage Foundation report says the federal government should minimize its role in transportation spending and enable individual states to invest in their own transportation needs. Monies in the Highway Trust Fund are drying up and if Congress does not add to the fund by a May 31 deadline the fund will go insolvent by late July, the report stated. Read More »

U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said on Wednesday that the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee will hold a mark-up session in June for a transportation reauthorization bill. The bill would be in effect for six years and provide a long-term solution as Congress continues the debate over funding mechanisms. Read More »

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted 30-21 on Wednesday to approve the fiscal year 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill. The bill moves to the full House for consideration. Read More »

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) board said Wednesday it will host a public hearing to discuss its proposed $5.56 billion budget for 2016 fiscal year. The public meeting will be held Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at 1 p.m. at the Metro headquarters building at One Gateway Plaza, 3rd Floor Board Room, Los Angeles, California. Read More »

The Chicago Transit Board (CTB) announced Wednesday that Dorval Carter Jr. will be the new president of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Carter, who has worked more than 30 years in public transit at the city and federal levels, was chosen to lead the CTA by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Read More »

TransForce, Inc. said April 16 that it has acquired Davis Transportation Services (DTS), the leading regional provider of high-quality commercial truck drivers in New England. Read More »

Leaders from American Trucking Associations called on Congress this week to pass a short extension of the federal highway program while continuing to focus on a long-term bill. “The trucking industry moves nearly 70 percent of our nation’s freight tonnage and pays for nearly half of the Highway Trust Fund, so we have a lot of skin in this game,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. Read More »

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) released a six-year, $8.4 billion highway construction plan yesterday that it says will repair and improve state roads and bridges but won't provide a long-term solution to the state’s infrastructure needs. Read More »

The Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance (TIA) said on Wednesday that the state is facing a growing problem of needed infrastructure projects piling up that lack funding.Some analysts have estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion would be needed to begin tackling some of the road projects across the state. Tennessee's infrastructure projects are supported by state fuel taxes that have not been adjusted since 1989. Read More »

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said this week that bonds issued through its Transportation Revenue Bond (TRB) credit were rated AA+ by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency. AA+ is one of the highest ratings the agency gives for debt creditworthiness, indicating that MTA bonds carry a minimal risk of loss from credit-related events. Read More »

Acting Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan joined other Orlando officials on Thursday to break ground at the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority LYNX LYMMO bus rapid transit (BRT) line. The new line will improve the connections and options that commuters have to existing transit services located within the Orlando region, helping to reduce traffic and expanding commuters' access to the city. Read More »

Total March employment by U.S. airlines jumped more than two percent from a year earlier, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) announced Wednesday. Read More »

The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 1.7 percent in March from February, following a one-month decline, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week. Read More »

In response to the recent derailments and toxic spills involving trains hauling volatile crude oil, a group made up of representatives from conservation and citizens' groups has sued the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), alleging new safety standards for oil trains recently set by the DOT fail to protect the public. On May 1, the DOT unveiled its final tank-car safety rule, and a week later, a train hauling crude oil burst into flames near Heimdal, North Dakota. Read More »

Report highlights how public and private sectors are delivering critical transportation projects. Read More »

The Teamsters said on Thursday that they recently won majority support from Swift Transportation shareholders for the union's proposal to require that the company’s board replace its current dual-class stock structure with a one-share, one-vote system. The Teamsters' proposal was endorsed by Swift shareholders at the company’s 2015 annual meeting on May 8, with the plan receiving 82 percent support from Class A shareholders, up 3 percent from a year earlier. Read More »

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission recently granted a contract to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide $7 million in emergency repairs for an important bridge in Oklahoma City. Read More »

U.S. Reps. Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a statement on Friday concerning legislation that was recently introduced to extend federal surface-transportation funding for two months. Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, are concerned about the impending expiration of Highway Trust Fund authorization. Read More »

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) recently sent its new publication on the U.S. transportation system to members of Congress to encourage them to find a long-term funding source for the Highway Trust Fund. Read More »