Last June, when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered a “pause” on the proposed congestion toll for vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, it appeared that the court cases filed by opponents of the tolling plan in both New Jersey and New York were moot. The plan was supposed to go into effect on June 30, and the equipment…

Until the middle of June, we had covered the controversy over the proposed congestion toll for vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street in detail. Officials in both New York and New Jersey filed suit in federal courts on both sides of the Hudson River to stop the toll, even as the equipment needed to collect the money was installed.…

Over the summer now ending, I have examined the situation now faced by eight of the largest transit systems in the United States, all of which include significant rail networks that, between them, include all current modes, from regional train networks to historic streetcars. Of those eight, only one appears to have found a long-lasting solution to the financial woes…

When Congress authorized federal funds for transit operations in late 2020 and early 2021 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that particular aid for the nation’s transit providers was meant to be temporary; a response to the steep ridership declines and consequent declines in revenue suffered by transit agencies around the nation, from the major systems I have examined…

I now complete my “tour around the country” to find out how major transit providers are faring in their efforts to keep going, despite the deficits those agencies will face when the COVID-19 relief money runs out. Congress authorized it in the wake of the steep ridership declines caused by the virus. We return to the Northeast to examine the…

At the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, one of the characters mentioned how great the transit in Los Angeles was. Of course, the story was set in 1947, when Pacific Electric’s Red Cars and LADOT’s Yellow Cars provided streetcar service to plenty of places, not only in L.A. itself, but also throughout Southern California. The streetcar network that had…

Much has been written about the alleged downfall of San Francisco and the Bay Area in general. When I visited in June to catch up on rail transit extensions in California that had started service during the five years since I last visited there, I did not find evidence of a city in its death throes, as some media claimed.…

This summer, I have been examining the effects on transit and its riders that we can expect when the federal funding for operations that was enacted as part of the COVID-19 relief effort runs out. That is about to happen to some transit agencies, and it will come relatively soon everywhere. We have looked at the major providers in the…

The “Second Battle of Mobile” is over. It ended in a victory for Amtrak, the officials and advocates who fought for the coming Gulf Coast trains, and the riders who will have a slightly expanded rail mobility network starting next year. It was sheer happenstance that I was in New Orleans when I learned about the Mobile City Council’s surprisingly…

After roughly 2½ years of covering every skirmish in what we have come to call the “Second Battle of Mobile,” it now looks like the battle is essentially over. On Aug. 6, the Mobile City Council voted unanimously to take the final steps that will allow Amtrak to run two daily passenger trains in each direction between New Orleans and…

RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2024 ISSUE: Chicago Union Station is a busy place. Trains come and go throughout the day, from early morning until after midnight. Most of those trains are operated (directly or under contract) by Metra, Chicagoland’s regional rail agency that serves suburban towns in Illinois, but not in Indiana. Amtrak controls the station and has an operating presence…

From Rails to Trails by Peter Harnik (University of Nebraska Press, 2021). There is an ongoing war between “rails-to-trails” proponents who covet every rail line and wish it could be paved into a trail for recreational cyclists, against advocates who see those lines as providing mobility for non-motorists and motorists who would have another, less-stressful, travel option. As co-founder of…

The Silver Star was once part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad’s fleet of crack streamlined trains between New York and the South that ran with stainless steel equipment, starting in 1947. While the Silver Meteor was the prime train on the route, the Star was not far behind, both running long consists and featuring delicious food, including some Southern…

Our most recent feature article on transit in the Nation’s Capital appeared in the August 2023 issue of Railway Age. Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono described the politics surrounding the agency as a “Jurisdictional Jumble,” and it is difficult to imagine a more accurate or succinct description. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA, or “Metro” as many locals call it)…

I noted in my previous report that New Jersey Transit (NJT) will get a reprieve, on account of a new tax on the largest businesses in the State. That tax will not benefit the agency this year, but only for the following four. After that, NJT could again have an unsettled future. Its neighbor is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority…

Friday, Jan. 24, 2020 was a sad day on Girard Avenue in Philadelphia. It was the last day of service for the Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars that had run for so long on the east-west thoroughfare in North Philadelphia. At that time, nobody expected the misery that would sweep the country, and the rest of the world, six weeks…

The last week of June was an eventful one for New Jersey Transit (NJT) and its riders. On the negative side, service on the portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) in New Jersey and gong to Penn Station New York (PSNY) has been disrupted lately, making it difficult for commuters and other riders. This is true for many NJT lines,…

For 77 days in 2019, I held the distinction of having ridden every rail transit line in the United States in its entirety. Then two events happened. One was the opening of the segment on Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) between Larkspur and San Rafael on December 14, 2019. The other came three months later: the COVID-19 virus. In the…

What a difference a few days can make! Only one week ago, on June 20, Railway Age covered the latest developments concerning the proposed Gulf Coast service, which would consist of two daily Amtrak passenger trains in each direction between New Orleans and Mobile, making intermediate stops at four towns along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Railway Age reported progress on the…

New Orleanian Tennessee Williams made A Streetcar Named Desire famous in his 1947 play by that name. It ran in the French Quarter but, despite its last-minute renown from Williams’s play, it was discontinued on May 30, 1948, after only 28½ years of service. A new line running near the old Desire route, on Rampart Street (the boundary of the…