Federal Transit Administration

Baltimore MTA Bus

Baltimore Transit Lagging Behind Other Systems

State-run buses and subway trains in Baltimore have breakdown rates far higher than systems in other cities.

March 29, 2020 - The Baltimore Sun

TriMet Portland

New Questions Around Portland-Area Light Rail Project

A proposed rail line would run from downtown Portland, Oregon, to the suburbs. The budget has increased significantly, and many funding and project scope questions remain.

August 26, 2019 - Oregon Live

Bart

BART Considers Range of Options for Retired Vehicles

Hundreds of cars in the system will be going offline in coming years, and the agency is looking at a variety of ideas for what to do with them.

January 14, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner

OC Streetcar Breaks Ground After Receiving Full Funding Grant Agreement

It's only the third full funding grant administration signed by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. The $149 million capital investment grant will help fund the 4-mile modern streetcar line from Santa Ana to Garden Grove in Orange County, Calif.

December 4, 2018 - PR Newswire

Senate Bans Procurements of Chinese Transit Vehicles

The temporary ban applies to bus and rail projects seeking funding from a number of FTA programs.

August 14, 2018 - Eno Transportation Weekly

Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar Plans Released

The streetcar planned for the central business district and historic core of Los Angeles would cost nearly $300 million and move an estimated 4,181 riders a day.

July 26, 2018 - Los Angeles Downtown News

LA Metro, Wilshire and Western

Federal Transit Grants Delayed by the Trump Administration

Congress has continued to fund transit projects despite the Trump Administration's stated desire to end federal funding for federal transit. Now it appears the Trump Administration is killing transit with bureaucracy.

July 22, 2018 - Streetsblog USA

skiers on a tram

Plan to Bring Electric Buses to Jackson Hole

A grant application would fund the purchase of eight electric buses to join the START Bus fleet.

July 6, 2018 - JH News and Guide

Amtrak Calfornia locomotive at station in San Jose

States Risk Losing Billions in Funding for Trains if They Don't Act on Safety

The Federal Transit Administration cannot award funds to states that don’t have federally approved safety-monitoring programs in place. On Monday, the agency warned a number of states that they needed prove they've undertaken these programs.

April 20, 2018 - Sacramento Bee

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

Rescue Bus

Feds Announce $264 Million in Funding for Bus Systems

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) this week announced grant funding for the Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program.

April 6, 2018 - Smart Cities Dive

Port Authority Trans-Hudson

Nation's Most Important Rail Project Downrated by the FTA

Amtrak's Gateway Program to replace a century-old rail tunnel and bridge from New Jersey to Manhattan, both bottlenecks on the busy Northeast Corridor, did not score well on an evaluation by the Federal Transit Administration for grant funding.

February 20, 2018 - Progressive Railroading

Sacramento

Sacramento Streetcar Faces Uncertain Future Due to Trump Budget

The president's Fiscal Year 2019 Budget cuts the critical Capital investment Grants program run by the Federal Transit Administration. Projects lacking a full-funding grant agreement, like the Sacramento Streetcar, may fall victim.

February 18, 2018 - The Sacramento Bee

nyc. subway.

New York MTA to Spend $4 Billion for New Subway Cars

Over 1,600 new subway cars may be ordered, a minimum of 200 with open gangways, by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The first 500 will be purchased from the Japanese company, Kawasaki, to be assembled in Yonkers and Lincoln, Nebraska.

January 26, 2018 - The New York Times

Self-Driving Bus

FTA Launches Five-Year Study of Benefits of Vehicle Automation to Public Transit

Much of the scientific inquiry into the potential effects of automated vehicles has focused on ride hailing and transportation networking companies. What about good old-fashioned buses?

December 12, 2017 - Eno Center for Transportation

Metro Map

Los Angeles to Test New 'Mobility on Demand' Partnership

The Federal Transit Administration has offered the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority a $1.35 million grant to partner with ridesharing app Via on first-last mile solutions.

November 27, 2017 - Engadget

Seattle Transit

Comparing Transit Choice by City

What does the way transit commuters move say about their city?

November 10, 2017 - Greater Greater Washington

Runners in D.C.

2018 Congressional Transportation Budget Begins to Take Shape

While reduced from current levels, the House Appropriations Committee budgeted far more than what President Trump had proposed, but they agreed with him to eliminate the TIGER grant program and reduce transit investments, though by a lesser amount.

July 24, 2017 - The Hill

Sacramento

Business Owners Vote to Fund Sacramento Streetcar Operations

The two-thirds threshold proved to be no obstacle for Sacramento streetcar proponents in a special election held June 21, when at least *250 businesses owners voted to tax themselves to fund operations of the proposed streetcar.

June 24, 2017 - The Sacramento Bee

Los Angeles Metro

Successful Ballot Measures Spell Doom for Transit Funding in Trump's 2018 Budget

President Trump points to the passage of multi-billion ballot measures last November as proof that federal funding isn't needed to fund transit, justifying elimination of a major grants program. The CEOs of two large transit agencies fight back.

May 30, 2017 - The Source

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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