Florida Deal With Spanish-Led Group Serves as a Model for Cash-Strapped States

(Source:  Wall Street Journal)

 (Source:  Time) 

(Source: Washington Post)

But the slow ride may soon be over. The project is one of dozens nationwide that are likely to benefit from President Obama’s initiative to fund high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs, including $8 billion in stimulus money and $5 billion more over the next five years in the administration’s proposed transportation budget.

(Source:  USDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 – Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico , was 13.1 percent lower in December 2008 than in December 2007, dropping to $52.9 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).  December was the second straight month with a year-to-year decline of greater than 13 percent.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico fell 12.8 percent in December from November (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors. 

Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline.  About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land.

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Seen below is the PDF version of the report.

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(Source:  Associated Press via Forbes)

(Source: Reuters) 

 This is ugly.For a picture of how rapid and steep the decline in U.S. manufacturing and retail sales has been in this recession, there are few better sectors to look at than transport.

Freight volumes — everything from raw materials to durable goods — have plummeted virtually across the board, making forecasting demand near impossible.

“We’ve downgraded our forecasts several times already this year — and it’s only March,” said John Levine, president of Pinsly Railroad Co, which owns short-line railroads in Florida, Massachusetts and Arkansas. “Business has fallen off in a way that none of us have seen.”

To weather the slump, Pinsly has cut back hours for workers so all of its 150 employees are still working, he added.

According to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR), rail carload traffic for the first two months of 2009 was down 15.8 percent.

Historical data shows the drop in U.S. manufacturing activity eclipses the recessions of the 1980s and 1970s and in terms of speed and scale it is comparable with — but not as bad as — the Great Depression before World War Two.

(Source:  Guardian.co.uk)

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai survives car crash but wife Susan killed

Susan and Morgan Tsvangirai during the 2005 elections. Photograph: Desmond Kwande/Getty Images

Zimbabwe‘s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has survived a car crash that killed his wife, Susan, near Harare today.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the prime minister was injured but not critically in the collision with a lorry. He was taken to a clinic in the capital. The driver of his official vehicle was seriously injured. There was no word on the condition of the lorry driver.

The party said there was no immediate reason to believe the accident was suspicious, but it was awaiting full details. An MDC official said that from information at the scene it appeared the lorry driver fell asleep at the wheel.

MDC officials said the couple had been heading to Mr Tsvangirai’s home town of Buhera for a political rally. Mrs Tsvangirai died at the crash scene.

The couple were married for 31 years and had six children.

Mrs Tsvangirai was widely respected in Zimbabwe as the antithesis of President Robert Mugabe’s extravagant and free-spending wife, Grace, who showed little concern for the plight of the many hungry and poor in her country.

Susan Tsvangirai largely avoided the limelight but did speak out on women’s rights and Aids. She was deeply religious.

Zimbabwe’s roads are notoriously dangerous, having deteriorated in recent years through lack of maintenance. Drivers are forced on to the wrong side to weave around potholes. Many vehicles drive without proper lights and brakes because of the difficulty and expense of obtaining spare parts.

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(Source: Los Angeles Times)

The new standard would gauge a fuel’s ‘carbon intensity,’ from its source to its burning.

The low-carbon fuel standard, if approved next month by the state’s Air Resources Board, would be the first in the nation to restrict greenhouse gases produced by a fuel, from its source to its burning.

Eleven states are considering similar rules, and President Obama has called for a national low-carbon fuel standard as part of his initiative to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by mid-century.

Air board chairwoman Mary Nichols said the proposed rule was a “comprehensive, cradle-to-grave approach” that would spur innovation and competition in the alternative fuels market.

But some members of California’s beleaguered renewable-fuels industry greeted the initiative with outrage. Tom Koehler, spokesman for Pacific Ethanol, said the proposal was “a perversion of science and a prescription for disaster.”

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(Source: American.com)

How did India’s Huey Long become its Jack Welch?

(Source: Bizjournal.com)

The federal stimulus funds, furnished through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will help the state proceed with 29 construction projects throughout the state. The Texas Department of Transportation will leverage the $1.2 billion in stimulus spending to build more than $2.6 billion in new transportation projects throughout the state.

In San Antonio, the state will proceed with the construction of new interchange lanes along U.S. Highway 281 and Loop 1604. The total project will cost $140 million to build. TxDOT will combine $60 million worth of stimulus dollars with $80 million worth of existing funds to proceed with construction. TxDOT also is combining $8.1 million in stimulus funds with $4 million in existing funds to construct new roadway lanes along Loop 1604 from FM 78 to Graytown, which is located near Randolph Air Force Base.