Automobiles

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Hybrid automobiles are most popular with drivers from Generation Y.

The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded its investigation into a plane crash in Mississippi last summer.

Amtrak is beginning passenger rail service to Norfolk, Va.

Washington, D.C.'s Metro is considering installing shields for its bus drivers.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A woman was arrested for boarding an airplane in Dallas with a gun.

A proposal has been made not to have a new line on Washington, D.C.'s MetroRail stop at Dulles International Airport.

The Department of Transportation is providing $3.5 million to the University of Illinois to set up a rail center.

The average age of cars on the road in the United States today is 10.8 years old.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy.

A flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica was diverted to Tampa, Fla., when crew members said a couple became unruly over champagne.

Saab owners are holding out hope for the company, despite its recent bankruptcy.

"Occupy" protesters were kicked off a Greyhound bus in Texas.

Detroit-based Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 450,000 of its cars that were made between 2001 and 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday.

The company has often touted the quality of its newer models as a factor in its financial turnaround that began in 2008, when other American automakers accepted bailouts from the federal government and Ford did not. But the NHTSA said 205,896 Ford Freestars and Mercury Montereys made between 2004 and 2005, and 244,530 Ford Escapes made between 2001 and 2002 have transmission and brake problems, respectively.

In the case of the Freestar/Monterey — Mercury is a subsidiary of Ford — NHTSA said it was possible the torque converter on the vehicles could fail, which the agency said would cause “a sudden loss of motive power with no warning, increasing the risk of a crash.” 

Romney on Wednesday attempted to turn attacks on his private sector record from GOP rivals against Obama.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Airports in Indiana are hoping to score big with increased Super Bowl traffic.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised federal money to a proposed light rail in Detroit.

New York City's new Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman has been confirmed by state lawmakers.

Sales of Volkswagens increased 14 percent in 2011.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson, whose appointment was sharply criticized by Republicans because of the National Labor Relations Board's complaint against airplane manufacturer Boeing, will attend the North American Auto Show in Detroit, officials in his office said Monday.

Bryson was tapped by President Obama last year to replace outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, whom Obama nominated to be ambassador to China after Jon Huntsman resigned from the post to run for the GOP nomination for the presidency in 2012.

Republicans criticized Obama for appointing for Bryson, who was a member of the board of directors at Boeing, at the same time the NLRB was allegedly retaliating against strikes by unions in its home of Washington state by planning to open a plant in South Carolina.

The NLRB has since dropped the Boeing case, and Bryson's office said he will be at the North American Auto Show to talk about cars, not airplanes.

"Secretary Bryson will be meeting with leadership from the Big 3 automakers at the approximate times below to tour exhibits and see the latest products and technologies," the Commerce Department said in a statement announcing Bryson's trip to Detroit on Tuesday. "After each tour the secretary will be available for questions as time permits. "

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that President Obama's insistence on helping the U.S. auto companies was the key to the industry's turnaround.

LaHood was in Detroit, which is home to Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, for the North American International Auto Show. The Detroit Free Press reported that while he was there, he stood up for the Obama administration's decision to use government money to bail out Chrysler and GM in 2008 and 2009.

"Each of the Detroit automakers is yielding a profit for the first time since 2004," the newspaper reported LaHood said. "Each gained market share last year for the first time since 1988."

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Subway riders celebrated "No Pants Day" 2012 on public transportation systems across the world.

A proposed high-speed railway in California is being met with apathy by some in the city of Fresno.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at the safety of air shows.

Car sales are predicted to increase in 2012.

The Energy Department (DOE) has decided against providing a Michigan company with a $730 million loan to support the manufacture of high-strength automotive steel.

The department last June gave Severstal Dearborn LLC — a subsidiary of Russian steel giant OAO Severstal — a conditional commitment for the loan to retool and expand facilities in Dearborn, Mich.

But a DOE spokesman said the department, after a “thorough review,” has decided against moving forward with the loan. “Nevertheless, the project does have merit and has already had some success in obtaining private financing. We hope that the company will remain committed to its investment in Michigan,” spokesman Damien LaVera said.

The planned loan had come under attack from several GOP lawmakers, including House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and some of Severstal’s steel industry competitors. Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) applauded the decision not to move forward.