Tag Archives: transportation

Amazingly, no one was killed.  Washington state Department of Transportation spokesman Travis Phelps told KOMO-TV that investigators are looking into the possibility that an oversize load struck the bridge and triggered the collapse. The collapse will raise questions about the nation’s infrastructure, which has been a popular issue with President Barack Obama, who earlier this year warned against “raggedy” roads …

Despite the delays, the cancellations, and the dangerously overcrowded skies, a newly-released poll shows that two-thirds of the residents of the 31-county NYC metropolitan area don’t support the building of a new airport. The survey found, over all, that respondents tended not to prioritize lower airfares or increasing the number of destinations reachable from the area’s airports. In fact, a …

Equality Across America has posted a lengthy list of ways to get to Washington DC for the National Equality March, including discounted air, rail, and bus deals, couch surfing and free housing info, and rideshare programs. There’s even a list of RV parks nearby in Maryland and Virginia, for you Winnebagoans.

If you’ve ridden the Staten Island Ferry, you probably know that biggest downside of the voyage is in the ranting street preachers who take advantage of an audience that can’t escape for 20 minutes. Well, no more. After “reviewing legal issues surrounding free speech and how it applies on public transportation” the DOT has established a “Quiet Deck,” where loud …

The on again-off again plan to turn NYC’s historic Farley Post Office into a massive and grand replacement for Penn Station is on again. After months of negotiations — and years after it first pulled out of the project — Amtrak reached a preliminary agreement to move to an annex of Pennsylvania Station planned for the James A. Farley Post …

Derelict remnants of Red Hook’s street rail system are parked behind the Fairway Market on Brooklyn’s waterfront. Mayor Bloomberg recently indicated his support for bringing back light rail service to waterfront neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, starting with Red Hook. A $300K feasibility study by the DOT will begin by the end of the year.

Long the salvation of penny-pinching hipsters, NYC’s Chinatown bus lines provide cut-rate (and often, terrifying) service to DC, Philly, and Boston. But Gothamist reports that the city has begun cracking down on unpaid tickets and has towed away many of the buses for non-payment. One company in particular, New Century Travel, takes the cake owing a whopping $136,387.35. Most of …

Dozens are injured, some critically, after a crash of San Francisco’s Muni just west of the Castro at the West Portal Station. The station is one stop away from the Castro. Forty-seven people were injured today, four of them severely, when a Municipal Railway train rear-ended another Muni train at the West Portal Station, authorities said. Witnesses described a chaotic …

The James Farley Post Office was built in 1912 and is the main USPS location for NYC. Right now the future of the James Farley is in question, as long-standing plans to turn it into a new entrance and concourse for Penn Station have been put on hold due to the economic downturn. The plan is/was to build a new …

Two monorail trains collided at Walt Disney World in Orlando this morning, killing the driver of one of the trains. Walt Disney World spokesman Mike Griffin said the crash happened at about 2 a.m. Sunday, on one of the monorail’s last runs of the day. Austin Wenneberg, 21, a Disney employee who was piloting one of the monorails died at …

(Via – Gothamist)

Two DC Metro trains collided at about 5pm today. The trains were above ground at the time of the collision. There are numerous injuries and at least one fatality. NBC reports: Two Metro trains collided between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations on the Red Line, resulting in at least one fatality, D.C. Fire and EMS Department spokesman Alan Etter …

Here’s a visual depiction of the city space required to provide transportation to 72 people. (Via – Richard Florida)

Right-wing blogs and forums are lighting up with outrage because the driver of a Boston trolley that crashed on Friday night is a transgender male who was texting his girlfriend at the time of the crash. The crash resulted in 46 injuries and $10M damage to the transit system. Via ABC: The Boston-area transit authority trolley driver who allegedly slammed …

The MTA has released the new fare schedule to go into effect on June 28th. The increases aren’t as steep as what was first predicted. (Via- Gothamist)

The economic crisis has prompted NYC’s transit authority to announce major budget and service cutbacks. The NY Daily News ticks off the damage: Positions: More than 1,500 axed – including approximately 350 administrators and managers; approximately 700 station agents and bus drivers combined. Subways W and Z lines shut down completely. No more express J-train service, makes all local stops. …

BoltBus, the new mega-cheap bus line operated by Greyhound that I mentioned here last month, earned a rave review from my friend Eddie last night. Eddie reports that for his $5 fare from Philly to NYC, he got a brand new bus with wi-fi service and power outlets at each seat. AND the driver even detoured from her route to …

The transit situation in New York City is getting, uh, interesting. – The Port Authority is polling commuters entering the Lincoln Tunnel, asking if they’d be willing to pay up to $30 per entry in order to use a proposed super-fee lane, which could cut their drive into Manhattan by 20-50 minutes. The HOT, or high-occupancy/toll lane would be creating …

A new French train just broke the speed record for conventional trains, traveling between Paris and Strasbourg at over 350 mph. And I’m just happy when clunky old Amtrak makes it from NYC to DC without breaking down. The manufacturers of the French train were visited by a committee from California who are considering a state-long high speed line from …