Railroads

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is fighting with his City Council over transportation projects they should ask voters to approve next year.

North Carolina got its high-speed rail from the federal government, but the plan is far from a done deal.

A Texas trucker was found in Mississippi to be carrying a bigger load than initially met the eye.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asks Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to protect their mutual home state's transportation dollars.

More goods were shipped to Canada and Mexico using trucks, trains and other forms of surface transportation as commerce with the two countries increased 19.5 percent from January 2010 through the first month of this year.
 
The Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Tuesday that goods worth a total of $67.8 billion were shipped across the U.S.'s southern and northern borders in January, up from $54.6 billion in the same month in 2010.
 
The rise continued a trend that saw trade increase 42.7 percent since 2009, when the continent was in the throes of the worldwide recession.
 
Trade with Mexico and Canada this January is 10.7 percent higher than January 2006, when the U.S. economy was still humming. And it is up 46.2 percent from January 2001, when the nation was on the verge of a small recession.
 
Not surprisingly, given its geographic proximity, Michigan had the highest value of trade with Canada, at $5 billion. Texas led surface trade with Mexico with $9.6 billion. 

The full shipping numbers can be read here.

Detroit's problems are well-documented, but its bridges being 13th worst in the nation can be added to the list.

Arizona officials approved a comprehensive rail plan, but they didn't say how they planned to pay for it.

Commuters in Maryland are going out of their way to avoid tolls.

Washington state officials want studded tires off the road for spring, but spring hasn't started there yet.

With GOP opposition to President Obama’s high-speed rail investments on the rise, a group of conservative supporters of the proposed railways are seeking to change the course of the discussion about railways.

The Southeast High Speed Rail Association will hold an event called "The Conservative Case for Intercity & Higher Speed Passenger Rail” on March 30 in Richmond, Va. The featured speaker will be William Lind, director of the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation.

Lind co-wrote a book in 2009 called Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation.

Washington, D.C., MetroRail turns 35 years old over the weekend, but it remains to be seen if Congress will give the aging rail system a birthday present and appropriate the $150 million it wants for improvements.

Massachusetts's transportation secretary has seen the lights of the "Big Dig" controversy and stepped down.

Transportation officials in Baltimore were betting on more than roads in the Charm City.

Utah's moving a 4 million-pound bridge on Interstate 15.
 

High-speed rail has become a focal point of criticism for the president's opponents much like the healthcare reform dubbed "ObamaCare."

The environmental impact of a proposed Nevada-to-California high-speed rail has been approved, clearing the way for the railway to built, Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday afternoon.

The environmental impact study was one of the final hurdles to be passed before the Department of Transportation could approve the project, which Reid says will create 34,000 jobs in Nevada, which has one of the worst unemployment rates in the nation.

“Our nation’s first high-speed rail project means one thing for Nevada: jobs,” Reid said in statement. 

“This announcement brings us one small step away from tens of thousands of new jobs not only through the project’s construction, but by boosting our tourism.  This line will connect tourists from southern California to our state’s great attractions like the Las Vegas Strip and the Hoover Dam. This announcement is excellent news for our state’s economic recovery."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will make an announcement about the proposed high-speed rail between Las Vegas and California Friday, Reid's office said.

LaHood has been traveling the country this week to talk up rail projects supported by President Obama as opposition to them mounts in the Republican-controlled House. The plans have run into opposition even in the Democratic Senate.

LaHood was in Hawaii and Portland, Ore., earlier this week. Friday, he and Reid will hold a press conference in Las Vegas to talk about the proposed DesertXpress railway, which would run between Las Vegas and an area near Los Angeles.

A New York Republican said this week that an upstate rail line there should be cancelled because it’s not “financially viable.”
 
The train will not generate enough revenue to justify building it, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
 
“In times of national financial crisis, we simply cannot support this expenditure of precious tax dollars on a project that will not be financially viable in the long-term,” Reed wrote.
 
“Constructing a high-speed rail line across Western and Upstate New York is not practical. A true high-speed rail line across this region would require its own dedicated track. Fulfilling this requirement would cost tens of billions of dollars."

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The road is rocky these days for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's transportation secretary.

Transportation officials in San Francisco are ponying up for transit-oriented housing.

They came from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's visit to Hawaii convinced he supports a proposed railway there.

The budget writers in Washington state have let lawmakers know how much they'll have to spend on transportation.