Blogger Leah Harnack, Mass Transit Editor, offers her insight on mass transit projects, transportation legislation and more…
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People Keeping Buses Running - Buses Keeping Transit Running
By Leah Harnack - Monday May 6, 2013Indianapolis, Ind., is the place to be at this week for the American Public Transportation Association’s Bus & Paratransit Conference and International Bus Roadeo. There are more than 1,700 attendees, will be 25 vehicles on display today and there will be 93 exhibitors at the Product Showcase tomorrow. The weather may not be as sunny as it was in Long Beach last year but the Roadeo started over the weekend and everyone was having a great time at the event hosted by IndyGo and Allison Transmission. Talking about the maintenance portion of the roadeo, APTA International Bus Roadeo Chair/Proterra Director of Regional Sales Mike Hennessy said, "This is the piece the industry doesn’t get to see. This is what keeps the nation’s buses... -
Funding, Football and Human Trafficking
By Leah Harnack - Monday February 4, 2013As Super Bowl XLVIII was kicking off, so was the South West Transit Association Annual Conference and Expo. At the welcoming reception, SWTA Executive Director Kristen Joyner said seeing all the people connecting at the event is truly a highlight. More than just connecting the old friends and new friends here at the conference, she said transit's role is connecting and that is the theme of this year's conference, Transit Connects: People, Jobs, Healthcare, Life. The welcoming reception/Super Bowl viewing party was hosted by Veolia Transportation and Veolia Vice President, Business Development Rick Pulido said it's kind of become a tradition. This conference and the Super Bowl often coincide and he said it's always a lot of people, a lot... -
USHSR Conference: Global HSR & CHSRA's Dan Richard
By Leah Harnack - Tuesday December 4, 2012
High-Speed Rail Around the World At the US High Speed Rail Association’s High Speed Rail Conference: Bringing High-Speed Rail to America, the session, “High-Speed Rail Around the World” had representatives from around the world to share best practices and lessons learned from other countries. UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux by pre-recorded video talked about Washington Day it held around the time of the UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Philadelphia, Pa., this summer. There were a series of exchanges between American politicians and rail leaders from across the globe which created a new milestone in the efforts to promote and illustrate the benefits of HSR. Siemens Industry Inc. Director, HSR Development... -
Developing California's High-Speed Rail
By Leah Harnack - Monday December 3, 2012People looking to bring high-speed rail to the United States are meeting in Los Angeles, Calif., this week for the US High Speed Rail Association’s High Speed Rail Conference: Bringing High-Speed Rail to America. USHSR President & CEO Andy Kunz began the conference pointing out the five challenges facing HSR in America: Confusion to the public about what high-speed rail is, is it Amtrak, how fast is it? There’s a well-funded negative campaign out there by those industries that don’t want this to move forward There’s a lack of dedicated funding sources Benefits are not clearly articulated or consistent There are long lead times to seeing results so a lot of people lose interest during that time Over the next few days... -
Fiscal Responsibility Through Sustainability
By Leah Harnack - Monday August 6, 2012Forget the “saving the planet,” or the “reducing the carbon footprint.” To get people listening today it’s about “cutting costs” and “saving money.” With transportation being a hot political button as of late and scrutiny over money spent on any infrastructure project, many of the attendees at the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) 2012 Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop were sharing how that message shift has helped them in generating community support. The afternoon started with a luncheon with a keynote by Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan. While there was a definite battle in getting authorization out of the gate, she stressed that this was a...
