Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in on Jan. 20 as the 46th President and the first woman Vice President of the United States, respectively. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has extended its support.
BNSF has set a $2.99 billion capital plan for 2021, with the largest portion going toward maintaining the core network and related assets, the railroad reported Jan. 20. The 2020 plan, at $3.08 billion, followed a similar strategy.
Total U.S. rail traffic was 528,547 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Jan. 16, 2021—up 5.8% compared with the same week last year, building upon intermodal’s continued strength, the Association of American Railroads reported on Jan. 20..
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has hired Raj Srinath as Chief Financial Officer and Patricia M. Lucek as Assistant General Manager of Labor and Employee Relations, a newly created position. Additionally, Cando Rail Services has promoted Steve Bromley to the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer.
Nuria Fernandez is moving on from her position as Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) General Manager/CEO to join the Biden-Harris Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation, VTA reported Jan. 19. Evelynn Tran is now interim General Manager/CEO.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is distributing $15.8 million to 37 transit projects through its new Public Transportation COVID-19 Research Demonstration Grant Program.
Massachusetts’ $16.5 billion transportation bond bill, recently signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker, will support rail, bus and roadway improvement initiatives. The new law earmarks funds for the South Coast Rail, Green Line Extension and East-West rail projects, among others.
Clever Devices, an Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) provider, has named John Santamaria Senior Vice President of Rail.
Kansas City Southern has submitted a letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) committing to setting a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
Former New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg has been tapped as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation.