Commuter Rail

Train Buffs: Do You Know What a ZEMU Is?

In addition to commuter trains hauled by an electric or diesel-powered locomotive, there are EMUs and DMUs, and come 2021, for the first time in North America, there should be a ZEMU thanks in part to a $30 million California transportation grant.

May 1, 2018 - California Assembly Press Release

USDOT Awards $96 Million to BRT Projects in Washington, Missouri and Commuter Rail in California

On April 9, FTA awarded $43 million for a new, 12-mile bus rapid transit line in Everett; $30 million to extend BRT 10 miles in Kansas City and $22.5 million to extend a North Bay commuter rail line two miles to a ferry terminal on San Francisco Bay.

April 17, 2018 - AASHTO Journal

LIRR Train

New York Wants More Riders on Commuter Rail

What kind of service improvements would commuters need to shift rides away from the MTA subway and onto commuter rail systems like the Long Island Rail Road?

April 8, 2018 - Crain's New York Business

Wisconsin's Foxconn Deal Inspiring Lots of Transit Planning

The msot recent proposal for new public transit to serve the Foxconn facility in Racine County: a commuter rail connection from Downtown Milwaukee.

April 2, 2018 - Urban Milwaukee

Metrorail

Miami Doubling Down On Rapid Transit

Autonomous vehicles replacing fixed transit may be on the minds of many in the transportation world, but that's not stopping cities from upgrading and building around their transit lines.

January 27, 2018 - Modern Cities

Grade Crossing

Denver Still Seeking a Solution to At-Grade Crossings on New Rail Lines

Seemingly esoteric matters of crossing safety and gate activation times are presenting a major obstacle for RTD's commuter rail expansion projects in the Denver area.

September 28, 2017 - The Denver Post

New Bay Area Commuter Rail Service Begins Today

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) train is set to start service Friday, running between Sonoma and Marin Counties in the Bay Area. Future extensions are planned that to take it to Larkspur for ferry service to San Francisco.

August 25, 2017 - SF Gate

Rail Redundancy Shouldn't Be Self-Destructive

Los Angeles Metro's new Gold Line light rail extension is attracting riders from the regional Metrolink commuter rail line that serves San Bernardino. The editorial board of the Daily Bulletin suggests that's not necessarily a problem.

August 8, 2017 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Texas Toll Highway

Hints of a North Texas Freeway Rebellion

At the helm of a movement to think beyond concrete solutions to transportation challenges in North Texas are the mayors of Fort Worth, Grapevine, and Arlington.

August 6, 2017 - NBC DFW

Long-Awaited Hartford to New Haven Commuter Rail Expected in 2018

Starting in May 2018: 17 daily round trips between New Haven and Hartford, including 12 trips continuing on to Springfield.

July 27, 2017 - The Hartford Courant

Grade Crossing

Grade Crossings Racking Up Costs on Denver's New A-Line

In a region with a full calendar of transit construction projects and high hopes for a positive stream of news, a premier and historic project has not gone as smoothly as hoped.

April 10, 2017 - The Denver Post

Is it Fair to Blame Commuter Rail Woes on Private Operators?

Recent problems on the commuter rail operations contracted out by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Denver's Regional Transportation District caught the eye of Governing's transportation and infrastructure reporter.

November 28, 2016 - Governing

Metro Fare

Bronx Pays More Than its Share for Rail Service

Higher per mile prices push, lower-income Bronx commuters to use other means of travel.

November 10, 2016 - RPA Lab

Detroit People Mover

Detroit Ballot Measure Puts Regional Transit in Reach

Involving four counties and $4.6 billion, the measure proposes a system that could put a million residents (and a million jobs) within a quarter mile of transit.

October 27, 2016 - Streetsblog USA

A SEPTA R5 commuter train heading for Doylestown, Pennsylvania from Lansdale station.

SEPTA Trains Running on Schedule for the First Time in Two Months

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority returned to a normal commute schedule today, after making sufficient repairs to new trains that didn't start on the right track.

October 3, 2016 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Denver's B Line to Westminster Now Open for Service

After Monday's celebrations at the new, electrified commuter rail line's only two stations, Union Station and Westminster Station, commuters now have the option of taking an 11-minute, six-mile ride to Denver, costing $2.60.

July 27, 2016 - The Denver Post

Caltrain

$1.25 Billion Approved for Caltrain Electrification; More Funding Needed

At their July 7 meeting, the Caltrain Joint Powers Board, a 3-county body that administers the crowded San Jose-to-San Francisco commuter rail line, unanimously approved $1.25 billion in contracts to rail and infrastructure firms for electrification.

July 18, 2016 - Streetsblog SF

Railroad

Virginia Railway Express Wants to Upgrade its Transit Status

How do you take regional commuter rail and turn it into rail transit? Just add frequencies.

July 12, 2016 - Greater Greater Washington

RTD Train

Denver's Commuter Rail Cars: Same as SEPTA's But Without the Defects

Denver's transit agency is running very similar Hyundai Rotem EMUs on their new A Line to the airport. The car shells are imported from South Korea and assembled in the same Philadelphia plant as SEPTA's problem-plagued Silverliner V cars.

July 11, 2016 - Billy Penn

SEPTA Train Tracks

SEPTA Forced to Take 120 Regional Trains Out of Service for Repairs

SEPTA commuters traveling to and from Delaware will spend the summer in transit gridlock, as 120 trains undergo necessary repairs to a serious structural flaw.

July 6, 2016 - NewsWorks

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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