Transportation

Maglev Isn’t The Transit Future Our Cities Need

July 5, 2025 Martin Mitchell, Next City. Educate! MagLev, Maryland, Transportation, wealth inequality

Like many Marylanders, I want a faster, more reliable way to get around. But speed without equity, sustainability, or connection to real community needs isn’t progress — it’s just a flashy detour. The proposed Superconducting Maglev (SCMaglev) train between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore is being marketed as a bold leap forward in transportation. In reality, it risks becoming another expensive infrastructure project that bypasses the people it claims to serve. For nearly a decade, I’ve followed the SCMaglev proposal through public meetings, community briefings and presentations to elected bodies. Its proponents have promised everything from reduced traffic congestion to job creation to futuristic innovation.

‘Fund The 15!’ Building Out A True National Railroad Network

June 17, 2025 Dan Bilka, Railway Age. Create! Public ownership, Railroads, Trains, Transportation

The American passenger rail renaissance is well-under way! Sold out trains, highly successful new services, and (justifiable) frustration about high ticket prices because of it: This is only the beginning. FY2024 was Amtrak’s most successful year in history with record ridership and record revenue. Americans, loudly and clearly, want more passenger rail travel options. Our limited existing services are already oversubscribed. Now is the time we need to work to meet the moment and bring passenger trains to more people in more places as part of a truly interconnected transportation network. They are truly engines of economic growth.

Truckers Petition Feds To Enforce HAZMAT Rules On Oil And Gas Waste

June 10, 2025 Earth Justice, Popular Resistance. Resist! Oil and Gas, Public safety, Regulations, Transportation, Truckers

Washington, D.C.—Truckers and environmentalists have joined together to demand Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies to enforce existing hazardous material rules when it comes to hauling oilfield waste—including the water and sands used to frack and extract oil and gas. The organizations, led by Truckers Movement for Justice, claim hazardous payloads are often not tested, leaving drivers and communities vulnerable to exposure to hazardous materials. “These guys put their lives on the line every day, and they deserve the proper training and certifications to handle these hazardous loads,” says Billy Randel, leader of Truckers Movement for Justice and retired hazmat truck driver.

Public Transit Is In Crisis; Congress Can Fix It

June 4, 2025 Leeann Hall, Inequality.org. Create! Congress, Public Transit, Public transportation, Transportation

Transit is essential. It’s how we get to health care appointments, parks, school, and work. Essential workers, small businesses, and under-served communities throughout the country depend on transit. Transit is a key component of economic opportunity, jobs, and a more environmentally sustainable society — and it’s a road to equity for disconnected communities. But from coast to coast — in big cities and in rural areas, in red and blue states — transit agencies are facing massive budget shortfalls and reducing service. And recent actions by the Trump administration — from Elon Musk taking a chainsaw to the federal government to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy threatening to withhold key federal funding — will worsen a bad situation.

Rail Users’ Network Conference: Good News, Bad News

June 3, 2025 David Peter Alan, Railway Age. Educate! Passenger trains, Railroads, Transportation, Worker Rights and Jobs

The bad news was, of course, the fiscal cliff that is exacerbating funding crises for many transit providers, as we have been reporting. The good news is that some providers still expect to open new lines soon that have been planned and built over the years. This writer delivered the closing remarks, which will be summarized in a separate commentary at the end of this article. RUN is a not-for-profit advocacy organization whose purview includes Amtrak, other passenger-rail carriers in the United States and Canada, and rail transit in both countries. It holds two aftenoon-length conferences each year. Last year’s events focused on potential expansion of the Amtrak network through the FRA’s Long-Distance and Corridor ID studies, both of which now face uncertain futures due to political changes in Washington.

Infrastructure Failure In The United States Of America

May 19, 2025 Kurt Cobb, Resilience. Educate! airplanes, Infrastructure, Transportation, United States

Recent events in America’s air transport system suggest that the system is becoming more prone to dangerous failures. Those failures include a January 29 mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport; a harrowing near miss between a landing passenger aircraft and an unauthorized business jet crossing the runway; a plane taxiing to the gate in Denver when an engine caught fire leading to the evacuation of all passengers, all of whom survived; and a blackout of air traffic controllers’ screens for 60 to 90 seconds at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Strike Halts New Jersey Transit

May 17, 2025 Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. Resist! New Jersey (NJ), Strikes, Transportation, Unions, Worker Rights

Four hundred and fifty train engineers at New Jersey Transit walked off the job overnight, after years of fruitless negotiations with their employer. These workers drive the state-run commuter trains that serve 350,000 daily riders in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. As of late Thursday night, NJT train service was completely shut down. The transit system is running additional buses as an alternative, but it’s extremely unlikely that they can make up the difference. “I take pride in what I do,” said one longtime engineer on the picket line, who didn’t want to give his name for fear of retaliation. “It gives me great joy taking my commuters to and from work every day.

Reclaiming Our Roads From Cars

May 5, 2025 David L. Prytherch, Next City. Create! Bicycles, carless community, Pedestrians, Transportation, Urban Design

Change, one might say, is afoot. We often think of streets as vehicular infrastructure, as “pipes for cars.” But streets, including the roadway surface, are social spaces — indeed public places. Stepping off the sidewalk onto the asphalt, we experience firsthand the diversity, dynamism, dangers and inequalities of the American city on the move. If we hope to achieve a more livable, equitable and sustainable city, we must reclaim the roadway for people. Historically, American streets were bustling, mixed-use spaces, but a century ago they were swept by the epidemic novelties of the automobile and influenza.

As US Threatens To Privatize Amtrak, UK Begins To Renationalize Rail

April 22, 2025 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Educate! Amtrak, Nationalization, Privatization, Railroads, Transportation, United Kingdom (UK)

While the Trump Administration and billionaire advisor Elon Musk are talking about privatizing passenger rail here in the USA, in the UK, they’re going in the opposite direction. Next month, on May 25, the British will begin nationalizing passenger rail after decades of failed privatization, which began in 1994 (see write-up from the British House of Commons). Amtrak referenced the UK’s experiment with privatization in a March 2025 analysis explaining why privatization is a bad idea (see Amtrak FAQ here). On this side of the Atlantic, Amtrak had its best year ever for ridership and revenue. Some of its ridership growth is due to an increasing number of long-haul commuters, especially commuters from Philadelphia to New York City.

Santa Clara Valley Transit Workers Begin Strike

March 12, 2025 Philip Nguyen, Fight Back! News. Resist! California, Labor, Strikes, Transit, Transit Workers, Transportation, Unions

San Jose, CA – On Monday, March 10, around 1500 bus and light rail operators and mechanics for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), walked off the job. The workers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265. This is the first strike at the VTA since its founding in 1973. Around 9 a.m. upwards of 70 ATU rank-and-file members could be seen picketing in front of the VTA headquarters as the strike began. Pickets were held at four other light rail and bus yards beginning at 4 a.m. VTA and ATU have been in contract negotiations since August.

Mexico City’s Trolleybus Workers Took On Austerity And Won

March 12, 2025 Natascha Elena Uhlmann, Labor Notes. Resist! Mexico City, Strikes, Transportation, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

The 1,970 rail, trolleybus, and cable car workers who make Mexico City run could go out on strike as soon as March 13. Their union, the Tram Workers Alliance of Mexico (Alianza de Tranviarios de México, ATM), secured vital investments in green transportation and saved hundreds of jobs in a 2016 “Save the Trolleybus” campaign that brought public transit users into their funding fight. Now workers want the uniforms and safety equipment that they’re owed under their contract but haven’t received in three years, as well as the tools they need to do their jobs: hydraulic jacks, pliers, and wrenches.

Transit Stations Aren’t Designed For Women And Caregivers

March 9, 2025 Maylin Tu, Next City. Create! Caregivers, Trains, Transportation, Women

A new report takes mobility hubs (traditionally, transit stations) and asks: How can planners design these spaces around the needs of women and caregivers? Imagine a centralized place in your neighborhood where you can chat with your friends over coffee, buy a few carrots for dinner, fill a prescription or watch your kids play on a playground – all while accessing the train, bus, bikeshare or rideshare. “Part of the feedback that we’ve gotten from practitioners is that it seems a bit utopian,” says Natalia Perez-Bobadilla, Research Communications Specialist at the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) and one of the authors.

Federal Personnel Cuts Could Further Delay Languishing Rail Initiatives

March 8, 2025 Bob Johnston, Trains. Resist! Federal Funding Freeze, Railroads, Transportation, Trump Administration

Disbursement of funds from grants awarded under a variety of Federal Railroad Administration continue to be held up by a lengthy approval process involving FRA personnel. These investments are threatened by potential staff reductions at the agency, as well as possible vetos by overseers invoking new Trump administration ideological criteria. Concerned about such a prospect, the Rail Passengers Association and 22 other public transportation advocacy organizations on Friday, Feb. 28, sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, urging him to “preserve mission-critical personnel to avoid further delays in the administration of these passenger and freight projects.”

The DC Bus Fare Evasion Crackdown

January 15, 2025 Pan-African Community Action PACA, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Black America, Black Working Class, Police, Racism, Transportation, Washington DC

To make good on the promise implicit in the "Secure DC Omnibus Crime Bill ,” to intensify its war on the Black working class, the DC government is now targeting anyone who can’t afford to pay for public transportation. In December 2024, a new enforcement campaign was launched called “Operation Fare Pays for Your Service” professing an intention to decrease fare evasion on DC’s Metrobus system. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) argues that increased fare enforcement is necessary after reporting that more than 70% of metrobus riders do not pay their fare, and claiming a $50 million dollar loss in annual revenue.

New York City’s Congestion Pricing Program Sacrifices Human Rights

January 9, 2025 Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Class Struggle, Environmental Justice, Human Rights, New York City (NYC), Transportation, wealth inequality

It’s been said that the road to bad policy is paved with good intentions. The case of New York City’s new congestion pricing program puts this aphorism to the task as both the intentions and the program itself raise salient questions about who benefits, who suffers, and if the inchoate initiative even complies with at least two landmark State statutes that purport to position New York State as the national leader in climate action and environmental justice. The congestion pricing program, which charges drivers entering Manhattan from 60th street and below $9.00 between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

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