Transportation News

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Obama nominates former MBTA head Scott to NTSB

President Barack Obama on Tuesday, July 28, nominated Beverly Scott, the former general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), for membership on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Scott served as the MBTA’s general manager until [...]

Senate votes to delay speed control system

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to delay a year-end deadline for railroads to install automatic speed control equipment that would have averted a fatal Amtrak crash several months ago.  The Senate passed $350 billion legislation to renew federal highway a [...]

Substantial demand shows need for TIGER grants

TIGER 2015 applications totaled $9.8 billion, far exceeding the $500 million for the program Washington, D.C. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that applications to the U.S. Department of Transportation for its seventh round of Transportation Invest [...]

TTD says 'no' to hair specimen drug testing

In a letter to the Department of Health dated July 29, 2015, President Edward Wytkind of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO supported the gold standard in drug testing but opposed unsubstantiated hair specimen testing. Read the letter below. On behalf o [...]

Rail safety upgrades stalled on Capitol Hill

Two months after a deadly Amtrak crash outside of Philadelphia thrust the issue back into the spotlight, frustrated legislators in the Northeast are seemingly no closer to getting the rail-safety upgrades they want. The transportation measure sitting on the floor of the Senat [...]

FRA announces final rule to prevent runaway trains

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a final rule to prevent unattended trains that carry crude, ethanol, poisonous by inhalation (PIH), toxic by inhalation (TIH), and other highly flammable contents from rolling away.  Railroad employees [...]

OSHA warns of heat illness in outdoor workers

HEAT ILLNESS CAN BE DEADLY. Every year, thousands of workers become sick from exposure to heat, and some even die. Heat illnesses and deaths are preventable. Employers are responsible for providing workplaces that are safe from excessive heat. What is heat illness? The body n [...]

Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses SMART

Senator Bernie Sanders (D – Vt.) was invited to speak at the SMART Business Agents’ conference, Tuesday, July 28 held at the Washington Hilton, Washington D.C. Watch the video below to hear Sen. Sanders’ speech about the shrinking middle class, the need for [...]

Senate to debate 3-year delay for rail safety system

Washington, D.C. — Two months after the high-speed derailment of an Amtrak train killed eight people and injured hundreds more in Philadelphia, a Senate transportation bill headed for debate this week calls for a three-year delay of the deadline for installing a rail safety s [...]

Aging infrastructure plagues NEC

In Maryland, a century-old rail tunnel needed emergency repairs this winter because of soil erosion from leaks, causing widespread train delays. In Connecticut, an aging swing bridge failed to close twice last summer, stopping train service and stranding passengers. And last [...]