Happening Now
The federal bias towards roads and cars
December 19, 2013
Deprecated: ProcessWire\MarkupQA::__construct(): Implicitly marking parameter $page as nullable is deprecated, the explicit nullable type must be used instead in /home/narprail/public_dev/wire/core/MarkupQA.php on line 74
Deprecated: ProcessWire\MarkupQA::__construct(): Implicitly marking parameter $field as nullable is deprecated, the explicit nullable type must be used instead in /home/narprail/public_dev/wire/core/MarkupQA.php on line 74
Deprecated: ProcessWire\MarkupQA::findLinks(): Implicitly marking parameter $page as nullable is deprecated, the explicit nullable type must be used instead in /home/narprail/public_dev/wire/core/MarkupQA.php on line 623
Written By Ross Capon
The pro-highway federal bias is clearly illustrated in these two ways, among others.
First, when general funds are transferred into the Highway Trust Fund, they become encumbered with the same restrictions as revenues generated by the gasoline tax and the other ‘normal’ Highway Trust Fund sources. This means they usually cannot be used for intercity passenger rail projects, and have the same restrictions regarding use for transit as those ‘normal’ HTF sources.Intercity passenger rail remains the only mode of motorized transportation without some kind of trust fund or dedicated pot of money for capital investment.
Then there is the lack of parity between pre-tax employer provided transit benefits. Parking benefits are enshrined in law at a high level, and indexed to inflation so they normally rise every year. Transit is “enshrined” only at $130 a month. Thus, come January 1, 2014, the transit benefit falls from $245 back to $130, while the parking benefit rises $5 to $250. Although Congress eventually might fix this mess (again) retroactively, retroactive benefits are complicated for employers to deal with and so often are not implemented.
Chicago's Red Line in the median of the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/narprail/public_dev/site/modules/FieldtypeTable/FieldtypeTable.module on line 1676
"The COVID Pandemic has been and continues to be the biggest challenge faced by Americans as it has taken a deadly toll on the world and on the world’s economies. During COVID Locomotive Engineers at Amtrak and other Passenger and Freight Railroads have embodied the definition of essential workers. This dedication by our members is not new. We applaud the Rail Passenger’s Association for recognizing the vital contributions of our members and their hard work moving Americans and freight during the COVID pandemic."
Dennis Pierce, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National President
December 21, 2021, on the Association awarding its 2021 Golden Spike Award to the Frontline Amtrak Employees.
Comments