Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The agency, the city of Dallas and Dallas County broke ground near a new scheduled streetcar stop. The 1.6-mile line is expected to cost $80 million and is supported primarily with federal funds. Phase one is set to open in October of next year.

The new GPS service is the latest technology upgrade provided. Free Wi-Fi was launched last fall, giving students the ability to do homework or check email while riding the bus.

Brookville Equipment Corp. vehicles will operate along a four-stop, 1.6-mile track that provides access for citizens of Dallas' urban core to the downtown Union Station hub, which connects to DART's Red/Blue/Green light rail lines and the Trinity Railway Express with service to Fort Worth.

TRE regularly purchases and installs ECOTRAX main line rail ties as well as specialty ties for use in crossings, turnouts and bridges.

The 459 30- and 40-foot buses mark the latest phase of the agency’s clean transit fuels program. The $210 million contract with NABI, one of the nation’s largest CNG bus orders, will allow the agency to introduce heavy-duty buses to replace the current fleet of liquefied natural gas and clean diesel buses, which began service in 1998.

TriMet signed a contract with local software company GlobeSherpa to pilot the system for its buses, MAX light rail and WES Commuter Rail. DART's system will be developed by Unwire, a Danish company with extensive experience in mobile ticketing for transit agencies, for $1.5 million.

The revamped system's on-time performance drops to 60% before rebounding later in the day. Officials say the problems were the result of a new vehicle fleet, new reservationists and dispatchers, and general confusion.

The $1.3 billion project has stops at the University of Dallas, the Las Colinas Urban Center and the Irving Convention Center.

The transit agency released video that shows the driver was not using a cellphone and was looking straight ahead at the time of the collision. The driver had a good safety record and more than 11 years of experience.

The daily DART Rail rider, Don Johnson, was greeted by DART President/Executive Director Gary Thomas and Michael Melaniphy, president/CEO of APTA.