FEDERAL NEWS
USDOT Invites Applications for TIGER Grants
DOT has announced the availability of $473.847M in FY2013 funding and requests proposals for TIGER grants to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region. Final applications are due June 3. Click here to read the notice.
According to sources inside the White House, President Obama is set to nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to serve as US Transportation Secretary. Foxx, who recently announced that he would not seek re-election at the end of his four-year term, is a former Justice Department attorney and previously served as president of Davidson College. Read more in the New York Times.
A publication recently released by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association reports that transportation construction contributes an amount equivalent to 2.25 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. Read the full report at www.TransportationCreatesJobs.org.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE STATE
Business Review Reports 5.1% Increase in Ridership for CDTA
An online article released on April 29 by Capital Region Business Review reports a 5.1% increase in ridership for the Capital District Transportation Authority. CDTA President Carm Basile (also president of NYPTA) credits the authority’s new BusPlus, or rapid transit, and universal access programs for a portion of the increase. Read more here.
CDTA also shared with us that they participated in a collaborative Earth Day event to highlight riding bicycles and public transportation for a environmentally friendly way to travel. CDTA displayed a hybrid bus at the Albany bicycle parade event to demonstrate to bicyclists how to use the on bus bike rack. See the photo at left.
The Buffalo Niagara International Airport received its seventh Balchen/Post Award for Outstanding Acheivement at the recent 47th International Aviation Snow Symposium. Read the story here.
We held a very successful Principles of Management Training program in Albany last week. Sponsored by NYPTA, NYSDOT RTAP and the Transit Training Institute, and presented by the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute and North Dakota State University, the program was sold out, attended by 33 transit managers from across the state, and one participant from Atlanta (MARTA). Our sincerest thanks to Bill Telovsky and RTAP, and Transit Training Institute Chairman Scott Sopczyk, for supporting the program and being the driving force in bringing the training program to New York.
Carm Basile welcomed attendees on the opening day thanking them for their commitment to public transit and support of the training program. Also, NYSDOT representatives were on hand each day to lend their expertise and knowledge. Thank you to John Fabian, Chief Investigator of the Public Transportation Safety Board, Mike LaBello, Intermodal Transportation Specialist, Public Transportation Bureau and Marc Boucher, Intermodal Transportation Specialist 2, Public Transportation Bureau for taking the time to attend the program and interact with participants.OTHER NEWS
A bus driver in Vancouver, British Columbia has started a movement toward civility among public transportation riders and launched a Facebook page to promote it. Brian Revel sets aside one day each month as "Say 'Hi' on the Bus Day." Revel and a fellow driver who helped cook up the idea keep people up to date on their progress at www.Facebook.com/Say.Hi.on.the.bus. Check it out, and let us know what you think on the NYPTA Facebook page!
About NYPTA
The New York Public Transit Association, Inc. (NYPTA) is a not-for-profit association of public transportation service providers, private sector manufacturers and consultants, and state government agencies. The Association was formed in 1983 by representatives of the transit industry committed to the advancement of public transportation in New York State. After over 20 years of operation, NYPTA remains devoted to public transportation development and representing the mass transportation needs of the riding public.