A new 35-page report from the Governors Highway Safety Association identifies “excessive vehicle speed” as a persistent factor in nearly one-third of all motor vehicle-related fatalities and particularly threatens the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists by not only increasing the chances of a crash, but also increasing the risk of serious injury or death when crashes occur. […]

The White House re-filed several nominations for transportation-related posts made during the 115th Congress who remained unconfirmed by the Senate following the close of that session. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, Democrat and Republican rosters were set for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The Trump administration submitted in excess of 100 nominations on […]

A “convergence” of several “transformative technologies” are expected to impact U.S. society and the transportation industry as well in 2019, according to a new whitepaper published by research firm IHS Markit on Jan. 3. [Above photo by Andrew Turner] Entitled “The Top Trends of 2019: Powered by Transformative Technology,” the whitepaper suggests that video technology, […]

Eight states – Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin – have officially launched a truck parking information management system or TPIMS to help truck drivers more easily locate available commercial vehicle parking spaces at both state-run rest areas and select private truck stops around the Midwest. [Above photo via Wikimedia Commons] The […]

Days before formally becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives for the second time, Nancy Pelosi tapped Rep. Kathy Castor, D-FL, to be the chair of the new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis – a committee that played a role in the creation of the 2007 energy act and the 2009 stimulus act, which included $90 billion in […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau provided the Dallas Area Rapid Transit or DART system with a $908 million Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing or RRIF direct loan on Dec. 21 to help finance the Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project. [Above photo by Jeffrey Beall.] The Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project […]

An analysis of employee drug tests conducted by Quest Diagnostics indicates that U.S. workforce drug use has increased each year – and by double-digits over two years – between 2015 and 2017 in five of 16 major U.S. industry sectors, with the largest increase in “positivity rates” occurring in transportation and warehousing. [Above drug testing […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation opened second round of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or INFRA discretionary grant program via a Notice of Funding Opportunity or NOFO issued Dec. 21. [Above photo by Colorado DOT.] The agency said in a statement that it expects to offer a pool of grant money totaling between $855 million […]

Some 37 of the 41 railroads covered by the Positive Train Control or PTC technology implementation mandate either gained approval from the Federal Railroad Administration for “alternative” compliance schedules for a two-year compliance extension or awaiting said approval from the agency. [Above photo of Metrolink by Clay Gilliland.] Concurrently, the FRA awarded more than $46 […]

Up to $60 million in federal grant monies is being offered by the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund projects aimed at testing what the agency calls the “safe integration” of automated driving systems or ADS technology with the country’s road network. [Above photo by Ford Motor Co.] USDOT said in a statement on Dec. […]