TheBus Should Be Free - Honolulu Civil Beat
TheBus Should Be Free
Eliminating bus fare would protect the health of riders and operators, lower Honolulu’s sky-high cost of living and promote a greener future.
About the Author
Wyatt Gordon is an environmental advocate and journalist with a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He currently covers transportation, land use and housing for the Virginia Mercury.
TheBus may be the only public transit system in the United States to be recognized twice by the American Public Transportation Association as the nation’s “Best Transit System,” but one thing could still be done to revolutionize transit on Oahu: Make TheBus free.
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A pilot program that adds a transit pass to monthly parking contracts is the latest effort to entice downtown Minneapolis workers who drive alone to leave their cars at home and take the bus or train a few days a week.
The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) are testing the Flexpass program at the city-run ABC parking ramps near Target Center. The goal is to see if allowing commuters to bundle parking and transit costs will mitigate congestion and pollution as commuters shift some trips to transit.
If the pilot is successful and Flexpass becomes a regular offering, it is believed Minneapolis would be the first city in the nation to offer a single pass that gives commuters the option to drive and park or take transit.
FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory
Positive Train Control (PTC) is now in operation on all 57,536 required freight and passenger railroad route-miles, ahead of the federal deadline of Dec. 31, the Federal Railroad Administration reported Dec. 29.
The 41 railroads subject to the statutory mandate comprising all seven Class I’s, Amtrak, 28 commuter railroads, and five short lines/regionals that host intercity or commuter service plus industry associations, suppliers and other service providers, have worked for more than a decade to reach what FRA called “a landmark achievement” and what FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory said was an “unprecedented undertaking” for the nearly 100 stakeholders.
FRA announces full implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC), two days before the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline.
File photo
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced today that positive train control (PTC) technology is in operation on all 57,536 required freight and passenger railroad route miles, prior to the statutory deadline of December 31, 2020, set by Congress. In addition, as required, FRA has certified that each host railroad’s PTC system complies with the technical requirements for PTC systems. Furthermore, railroads have reported that interoperability has been achieved between each applicable host and tenant railroad that operates on PTC-governed main lines.