Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Offering includes a sponsorship program, which will provide partners with marketing rights and benefits, such as signage and advertising in commuter rail stations, railcars and ferry facilities; corporate presence on commuter rail system maps and schedules; control of a Wi-Fi landing page; links on the MBTA website; and intellectual property rights.

The contracts provide a new approach for determining when a paratransit vehicle is “late," as the contractor managing the scheduling and dispatching functions will share performance incentives and disincentives with the contractors delivering the service to customers.

The 41 stations will have their waiting room hours extended until 10 PM in the evening on weekdays. LIRR station waiting rooms typically open between 5 AM and 6 AM on weekdays. Prior to the pilot, most station waiting rooms closed by mid-afternoon.

"Ask Julie" provides both a verbal and written response to customers' travel questions along with related links, and can even send customers directly to the Amtrak website's most relevant page.

Commuters in Boston, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Chicago will be able to order groceries for delivery using their mobile devices at the company's digital grocery aisles on the train platforms.

Began testing of the “quiet car” concept on Monday, on the first and last cars on the Rock Island rail line. Rules include: No cell phone calls, conversations must be in subdued voices, and electronic devices must be silenced.

Passengers debate whether any talking at all should be allowed in the cars. One rider requested that the conductor disable the automated announcements and his work radio, saying it created “unnecessary noise.”

As part of its budget analysis and efforts to reduce expenses, SMART will convert its 275 fixed-route buses and 110 paratransit vehicles to biodiesel fuel utilizing funds from its 2010 budget.