Who wants more public transit choices? Most Americans, it turns out

Who wants more public transit choices? Most Americans, it turns out: "Three out of four Americans are frustrated with the lack of transportation options that forces them to drive more than they would prefer, according to a new nationwide public opinion survey released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). According to the poll results, two out of three support government investment in to expand and improve public transportation and twice as many people favor new transit – buses, trains and light rail – rather than new highways as the best way to solve America’s traffic woes."

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SoMdNews.com: Fix bus service while awaiting trains

SoMdNews.com: Fix bus service while awaiting trains: "For those who rely on these commuter buses this is vital service; attention must be paid. There’s a town hall meeting for commuters next Tuesday, Sept. 18, with MTA and the local bus companies at Regency Furniture Stadium on St. Linus Drive in Waldorf from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Solutions can’t wait until the train pulls into the station in Waldorf many years from now."

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DOT "State of Good Repair" money - good investments

With transit investments, a surge of dividends across America - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation: "In Baltimore, I had the pleasure of announcing a $40 million State Of Good Repair grant to the Maryland Department of Transportation. MDOT will replace Baltimore's 65-year-old Kirk bus facility with new, environmentally sustainable facilities that will make it easier and more cost-effective to manage all the buses that serve Greater Baltimore. This project will create good local construction jobs in Northeast Baltimore, and it will help more than 350 local Maryland Transit Authority employees do an even better job maintaining a growing fleet of energy-efficient buses."

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Libor Rate-Rigging Scandal Sets Off Legal Fights for Restitution - NYTimes.com

Libor Rate-Rigging Scandal Sets Off Legal Fights for Restitution - NYTimes.com: "As unemployment climbed and tax revenue fell, the city of Baltimore laid off employees and cut services in the midst of the financial crisis. Its leaders now say the city’s troubles were aggravated by bankers’ manipulation of a key interest rate linked to hundreds of millions of dollars the city had borrowed.

Baltimore has been leading a battle in Manhattan federal court against the banks that determine the interest rate, the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which serves as a benchmark for global borrowing and stands at the center of the latest banking scandal. Now cities, states and municipal agencies nationwide, including Massachusetts, Nassau County on Long Island, and California’s public pension system, are looking at whether they suffered similar losses and are weighing legal action."

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More oil war to come. Include these costs when pricing oil.

U.S. Adds Forces in Persian Gulf, a Signal to Iran - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates."

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#Transpo bill sucks. What did you expect?

Transit union says highway bill will raise public transportation fares for riders - The Hill's Transportation Report: ""This transportation bill is a death blow to public transportation; it not only does nothing to address the American mass transit crisis, but will make it much worse,” Hanley said in a statement released by the union.

“It’s actually a tax increasing bill that will impose hidden taxes on commuters and transit riders by raising fares while forcing cash-strapped transit systems to cut more service,” he continued."

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It is time to change priorities in Montgomery County - Action Committee for #Transit

Action Committee for Transit-: "The Action Committee for Transit has a vision of a Montgomery County where it is easier to travel and more pleasant to live -- a county built for people and not for automobiles.

Years of experience have shown, and studies prove, that building highways leads to more traffic and more congestion. Affordable, convenient transit gives us a way to get past the traffic jams and fosters a better quality of life in our neighborhoods.

It is time to change priorities:

Connect our communities with a network of rail lines.
Redesign our streets to make it easier and safer to walk and to ride a bike.
Create the kind of neighborhoods we want to live in."

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