WASHINGTON – As Congress gets into full swing after the August recess, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a survey Sept. 15 that shows the numbers of Americans that support increasing federal public transportation investment grew to nearly 68 perce [...]
The SMART Transportation Division will resume its regional meetings in 2015. Transportation Division officers and staff are currently working on securing locations for the summer of 2015. The regional meetings provide valuable educational opportunities to members and officers [...]
The House is proposing a 40 percent funding cut for new Amtrak construction in a new passenger rail bill that was unveiled on Thursday by the chamber’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Amtrak has received about $1 billion per year from the federal government since [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced railroad safety legislation Sept. 10 that continues dialogue on the nation’s rail safety laws. S. 2784, the Rail Safe [...]
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Sept. 10 announced a comprehensive overhaul of rail safety laws and protocols to enforce and enhance safety and reliability following a series of high profile rail catastrophes in New York, Con [...]
Warning that the frequent railroad trains loaded with crude oil passing through the Chicago area are a “serious risk to public safety,” the City Council is calling for tighter restrictions on the shipments than federal officials proposed in July. Council members on Tuesday al [...]
A bipartisan pair of senators is planning to introduce legislation to beef up the panel of federal regulators that is supposed to oversee operations on the nation’s freight and passenger railways. The panel, the Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Boar [...]
The SMART?Transportation Division is seeking quality railroad, bus and airline photos, taken by its members, for placement in its annual calendar and other uses. The calendar is mailed annually to members of the UTU?Alumni Association as one of the benefits of Alumni Associat [...]
Local 240 Chairperson Harry Garvin Jr. reports that the 12th annual rail reunion and retirement dinner for employees of UP, SP, Pacific Electric, Metrolink, Amtrak and AT&SF (Locals 32, 240, 1422, 1770, 1813 and 1846) will be held Nov. 7, from 3-9 p.m., at Sierra Lakes Go [...]
A new study, from University of Illinois-Urbana professors From Labor and Employment Relations professor Robert Bruno and Illinois Economic Policy Institute Director Frank Manzo found that just as “Right-to-Work” allows some workers to freeload to the detriment of others, it [...]
SMART Union