Category: Amtrak/Commuter
Virginia SLD reminds state voters: Absentee voting has begun!
SMART Transportation Division Virginia State Legislative Director Ronnie Hobbs issued a reminder Oct. 16 that absentee voting in-person or by mail has begun for the state’s Nov. 5 general elections. Voters can cast absentee ballots in person at their local voting regist [...]Poll claims Coloradans are willing to pay more taxes for rail service
A recent poll conducted by RBI Strategies & Research in conjunction with Magellan Strategies found that 61% of those surveyed would support a sales tax increase to fund a passenger rail service project along Colorado’s Front Range. Although a sales tax increase is support [...]
Railroad unemployment and sickness benefits reduced again due to sequestration
Starting October 1, 2019, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will reduce railroad unemployment and sickness insurance benefits by 5.9%, down from the current 6.2% reduction, as required by law. The adjusted reduction is based on revised projections of benefit claims and [...]
NJT boss to Trains Magazine: Carrier has a way to go to meet PTC deadline
In an interview with Trains Magazine’s Ralph Spielman, New Jersey Transit (NJT) President and CEO Kevin Corbett said that the passenger carrier has much progress to make in its implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) in order to meet the deadline for full impleme [...]
APTA reports U.S. rail ridership up in second quarter compared with 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans took more than 2.5 billion passenger trips on public transportation in the second quarter of 2019, according to the quarterly Transit Ridership Report released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), representing 11 million trips [...]
Golf outing to honor Donald Wheaton
Local 898 in Boston will be holding the Donnie Wheaton Memorial Golf Tournament on Oct. 5 at Maplegate Country Club in Franklin, Mass. Holes are available for sponsorship by SMART TD locals for $150. A 42-year employee for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which became Keo [...]
Texas-area members invited to Houston solidarity rally
Local 1892 invites union members to the fourth-annual Houston Solidarity Rally that is scheduled noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at the SPJST Lounge, 1435 Beall St. in Houston. The event is open to all and has previously drawn members from 16 locals/divisions/lodges from multiple uni [...]Railroad Retirement Board seeks feedback on online services in survey
A contractor working with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) on the board’s information technology initiatives, including RRB’s online services, is seeking feedback from active railroad workers and retirees that will direct its future plans. Accenture has set a S [...]