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.

Project funding gap is in part due to bids to install tracks, build shelters and buy ticket machines being $26 million to $44 million higher than estimated by the city.

To celebrate, President/CEO Joe Boardman released a statement lauding the rail service's success.

The decision was made despite the state accruing more than $2 billion in Superstorm Sandy-related expenses and tapping out its snow removal budget.

The majority of the funds will go to the transit agencies that incurred the greatest expenses while preparing for and recovering from Hurricane Sandy — N.Y. MTA, PATH, NJ Transit and NYC DOT.

Joe Boardman explained to congressional committee that while the railroad has taken actions to chip away at operating costs and increase revenue, a vital component of its success has been the federal government’s willingness to invest in the Amtrak national network.

An XpressWest representative attributed the extensive wait to the complexity of the project and amount of due diligence the Federal Railroad Administration must complete to approve the loan.

Would build them far from where the storm-surge waters from Superstorm Sandy swamped the agency’s upper Hoboken and Meadowlands Maintenance Center yards. Nearly one-quarter of the agency’s fleet was damaged by flooding. Storm recovery aid allocation could be a deciding factor.

Last month, the state legislature established a regional transit authority for Metro Detroit, in response to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s requiring one before he would release funding for M-1 light rail streetcar project.

Rockland County is planning to replace its oldest TRIPS minibuses that serve the elderly and disabled with smaller vans to save money and adapt to changing needs. The county has approximately $770,000 in federal and state funds to buy five new minibuses and 10 new vans.