Mass Transit
The heavy rains and flash flooding caused by Hurricane Ida inflicted an estimated $8 million in damages to 28 buses, about 12 percent of all buses housed, at Staten Island’s Castleton Bus Depot.
The proposed rail link between Baltimore and Washington would provide a 15-minute ride and eventually extend to New York. Opponents of the $10 billion project cheered the Federal Railroad Administration’s notice.
With the city’s transit system badly flooded by the hurricane’s rains, calls have grown to increase capital spending now to upgrade subways and buses. But fees from the road tolling program are many months away.
Transportation and housing advocates are becoming fed up with the review process, which can easily delay or kill a project. They say it puts too much power in the hands of a few privileged citizens.
The Maryland county has partnered with the public school system and the Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland to provide free public transportation to school, afterschool programs and jobs.
Unlike China, American roads and transport systems have been around for too many decades. We need to fix them, not dream of gleaming new ones.
Increased bus and train frequency coupled with fare cuts will take place next month in a bold move by the transit system to woo back old riders and attract new ones. It could be a model for other transit systems.
The $1 trillion infrastructure package makes no explicit mention of the state’s efforts to build a high-speed rail, but lawmakers are continuing to analyze if pockets of funding are available from other areas.
After 16 fare-free months due to the pandemic, the city’s public transportation system will once again start charging for bus fares. But many worry how this will impact homeless or vulnerable populations.
The pandemic has given frustrated solo commuters some relief, but history suggests that its effects may not last. Maybe Ebenezer Scrooge actually knew something.
