Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Federal Transit Administration

Understanding Washington’s Metro Crash

By Ryan Avent | Jul 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

The scene of June 22nd’s Washington D.C. Metro crash. (Photo: AP) The House of Representatives subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia convened yesterday afternoon to hear testimony related to the tragic Washington Metro accident of June 22. The proceedings got off to an appropriately somber start, as California Representative […]

U.S. Transit Agency Issues Safety Warning After D.C. Metro Crash

By Elana Schor | Jul 14, 2009 | No Comments

Following quickly on the heels of a National Transportation Safety Board warning about the D.C. Metro’s crash-prevention system, U.S. DOT regulators are asking transit agencies nationwide to ensure they have safety backups in place. As Peter Rogoff, chief of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), wrote to officials [PDF] late yesterday: We are asking that all […]

How Much Operating Aid is Your Local Transit Agency Getting?

By Elana Schor | Jun 26, 2009 | No Comments

President Obama has signed into law a $106 billion war funding bill that includes a provision allowing local transit agencies to spend 10 percent of their stimulus money on operating costs. That sounds good … but how much money are we actually talking about? According to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA): St. Louis’ Metro system […]

Transit Planners to Congress: Please Figure Out How to Fund Us

By Elana Schor | Jun 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

To all but the most ardent transit wonks, the phrase "New Starts" sounds like a motivational tape sold on late-night TV. But those two words actually represent Washington’s predominant mechanism to pay for major transit expansions — everything from expanding an existing rail station to building a new bus line. Minnesota’s Hiawatha rail line is […]

Why Buy More Trains If You Can’t Afford to Run Them?

By Elana Schor | May 27, 2009 | 7 Comments

Down in balmy South Florida, D-Day is approaching for riders of the the popular Tri-Rail transit system. A looming $18 million shortfall has forced the Tri-Rail board to approve a budget that slices daily service and stops all trains by 2011 — although ridership has doubled since 2005. Tri-Rail trains like these could stop running […]

Senators Hear From Obama’s Transit Chief-in-Waiting

By Elana Schor | May 13, 2009 | No Comments

One of the Capitol’s sad, secret truths is that members of Congress often skip committee hearings on issues of vital importance to their states — and today’s confirmation session with Peter Rogoff, the president’s nominee to lead the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), was no exception. Just three members of the Senate Banking Committee showed up […]