(Source: Transportion for America)

The Monterey-Salinas Transit System in California is one of the 80 systems chronicled on our map facing job cuts, service cuts, or fare increases. Photo submitted by Danny Avina and the MST.

Here at Transportation for America, we’ve spent a lot of time documenting examples across the country of transit agencies cutting service, raising fares, or laying off workers to cope with slashed budgets and growing deficits. In nearly every instance we’ve found, there’s a similar pattern — declining state and federal aid, paired with decreasing revenue, pushes a local transit agency to make cuts, even while ridership remains at all time highs as residents look for cleaner or more affordable ways to get to work or go to the store.

Unfortunately, we’ve hit a grim new milestone in our search for transit cuts. Transportation for America has now documented 80 communities across the United States (even stretching up to Alaska) being hit by these service reduction, fare increases, and layoffs. You can look at all the cuts we’ve found on our transit cuts page. (Continue to let us know if we’re missing any.)

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Creamer Media’s Engineering News)

All of Durban’s public transport projects, which are being funded by the national government to the tune of R1,2-billion, will be completed by the first quarter of 2010,Carlos Esteves, deputy head of the Road System Management for eThekwini, said ast week. 

The city aims to promote public transport over private transport to make the city more accessible and to ease movement around the city centre for commuters and pedestrians. 

Projects on target for 2010 include additional dedicated public transport lanes, an inner city distribution system, park and ride facilities using existing car parks and buses, upgrades to major intersections, a freeway management system, a closed-circuit television road monitoring system and a traffic call centre. 

Durban’s King Shaka International Airport is expected to start operating in May 2010, just in time for the FIFA World Cup, and a shuttle service will be provided for passengers between the airport and a central transport hub in the city.

(Source: AP via Yahoo News)

A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket.

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(Source: Washington Post)

Increased Subsidy Might Mean a Boost in Ridership on Longest Rail Commutes, Officials Say

Good news for transit riders: Starting on Sunday, the monthly transit benefit allowance increases to $230 from the current $120, thanks to the recently enacted economic stimulus package.

Click here to read the entire article

(Source: Planetizen)

(Source: Transportation for America)

In a telebriefing last week moderated by Transportation for America campaign manager James Corless, a panel of transportation experts from range of backgrounds discussed the transportation infrastructure portion of the stimulus bill and what it means for the future of our transportation system.

The group of panelists – which included Meridian, Mississippi Mayor and rail advocate John Robert Smith, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials President Allen Biehler, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager and CEO Beverly Scott, and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Rob Puentes – spoke optimistically about the potential for stimulus dollars to jump start the economy with investments in projects across the country and put a down payment on a balanced, 21st-Century transportation system.

A variety of transportation and infrastructure reporters, including Alex MacGillis of the Washington Postand Michael Cooper of the New York Times, were included in the call, and asked the panelists a number of questions about the logistics of spending the stimulus dollars, the impact it will have on reauthorization, and the how the stimulus compares to previous investments in infrastructure.

Click here to read the entire article and to listen/download this interesting telebriefing in MP3 format.

(Source: TreeHugger)

Image: New York Subway Map by Zero Per Zero

We like talking about promoting public transit here on Treehugger and at Planet Green, noting that cities and countries that get it right can create a very positive image that in turn steers more people towards leaving their car at home. So, I was happy to see Zero Per Zero, a Seoul-based design team, re-thinking railmaps and subway maps. Using bright colours and a big dose of humour, Kim Ji-Kwan and Jin Sol from Hongik University are now in Tokyo to display their work.

The maps come in a small folder with stickers for marking favorite spots, restaurants, appointments, hotel locations, and major attractions. When traveling, the folder can also be used to jot down notes and to hold transit passes, tickets, and more. Made of paper.

Click here to read the entire article, which has a couple of more cool pictures.

(Source: Irish Times)

IRISH PEOPLE are more concerned about climate change issues than many other countries and they claim to have an extremely high recycling rate, a global survey has found.

The research was commissioned by marketing consultancy Accenture and involved 10,733 consumers in 22 countries including Europe, the US, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Argentina, Chile and South Africa.

Some 87 per cent of Irish people surveyed said they were concerned about climate change, compared with 83 per cent globally. And 96 per cent of Irish respondents claimed to recycle paper or plastic goods compared with 87 per cent globally. Some 93 per cent of Irish people surveyed said they shut down electric devices instead of leaving them on stand-by, compared with 87 per cent globally.

However, Ireland lagged behind in other areas, with 62 per cent saying they would avoid taking the car in favour of using communal transport, compared with 69 per cent globally. Just 21 per cent of Irish respondents said they used alternative energy such as solar or wind power, compared with 28 per cent globally. And 65 per cent of Irish respondents said they avoided buying goods requiring long-distance transportation compared with 71 per cent globally.

(Source: Bostonglobe.com)

In the half-month since the Senate nearly slashed mass transit from the stimulus bill, yet more locales broke ridership records from coast to coast. The New York City subway system moved 1.62 billion people last year, the most since 1950. Combined with buses, the city moved 2.37 billion people, the most since 1965. The Metro-North rail that services the suburbs outside New York carried a record 84 million passengers.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Amtrak Cascades line from Portland to Seattle set a new record with a 14.4 percent increase. In the South, ridership for the Piedmonttrain between Charlotte and Raleigh was up 30.8 percent last year.

Click here to read the full article.

(Source: NYTimes.com)

Plummeting tax and fare revenues that have been depressed further by the ailing economy could increase the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget deficit this year by $650 million, according to a new estimate made public on Monday. If the doomsday forecast is borne out, the authority’s deficit this year could grow to nearly $2 billion.

Subway ridership fell 2 percent in January compared with last year.

The authority has already proposed a steep increase in fares and deep service cuts if it does not get a state bailout. But if its finances worsen significantly, it could be forced to take even more drastic measures.

“This is obviously breathtaking,” Gary Dellaverson, the authority’s chief financial officer, said as he presented the projections to a meeting of the authority board’s finance committee.

Click here to read the full article.