MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: December 27, 2020 805
Sound Transit’s Link light rail system is now running on 100 percent carbon-free electricity, making it the first major light rail system in the country to achieve this milestone. The accomplishment is made possible through an agreement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to purchase wind energy directly from the utility’s Green Direct program. The agreement with PSE is projected to save more than $390,000 in electricity costs over the 10-year contract while also supporting the creation of local clean energy jobs.
“Innovative projects like PSE’s Green Direct program demonstrate how Washington state continues to be a national leader in the clean energy economy,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “Puget Sound residents can now travel on Sound Transit’s carbon-free light rail while supporting our local economy and homegrown solutions to solve our global climate crisis.”
Wed December 23, 2020 - Northeast Edition
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pennsylvania will benefit from a new target of funding in the federal stimulus package approved Dec. 21: state departments of transportation, where financially beleaguered
PennDOT is expected to receive $410.1 million.
That s according to an analysis of the $10 billion allocation in the stimulus package by the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) using the federal Department of Transportation s formula. The association lobbied hard for Congress to include transportation departments, which have lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the
COVID-19 pandemic because their funding is related to traffic volume.
In the Keystone State, where gasoline taxes make up a big share of funding for road and highway projects, the state has estimated a revenue shortfall of $500 million to $600 million since the pandemic began in March. At the beginning of December, the department sai
• $679 million for 49 U.S.C. § 5311 grants to rural areas.
• $50 million for 49 U.S.C. § 5310 grants for seniors and persons with disabilities.
“A primary objective of the $14 billion of emergency transit funding is to ensure that public transit agencies receive sufficient funding under this bill, when combined with their CARES Act apportionments, to equal at least 75% of urbanized areas’ public transit operating costs,” the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) explained on its website. “The transit funds provided under the bill are available for operating expenses related to the response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The federal share is 100%.”
Amtrak’s $1 billion in relief includes $655 million for Northeast Corridor Grants and $345 million for National Network Grants. The bill also sets aside $284.7 million to assist states and commuter rail providers in making required payments to Amtrak.
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By Railfan & Railroad Staff
WASHINGTON Industry groups are asking that railroaders and other transportation professionals be among the first essential workers to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, the Association of American Railroads, the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association and other groups representing trucking and maritime transportation, came together to urge government leaders to let their employees be among the first to be vaccinated. Now that at least two of the vaccines have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, those calls are growing louder.