In December 2008, the Rail Runner Express regional passenger rail transit service in New Mexico took a huge leap forward when service was extended to Santa Fe. And with thousands of daily passenger-trips now being attracted, the system's success has stimulated interest in expanding the line southeast to Las Cruces and even El Paso, and north toward Colorado.... More...

As the USA faces massive financial collapse and economic crisis, and a new administration takes the helm in Washington, both the incoming administration and the US Congress are now seriously considering various alternatives for economic stimulus and stabilization. Support is mounting for a major public works initiative – in effect, a 21st-century version of the 1930s-era "New Deal" – with particular emphasis on addressing America's dire infrastructure crisis involving bridges, urban utilities, railways, public transit, transportation electrification, and other aspects of critical infrastructure. Proponents of such a program argue it can bring jobs and economic uplift – as well as providing crucial alternatives to petroleum dependency – but it must include public transportation investment at its core. This webpage provides a listing of recent articles on the Light Rail Now! website that address some of the most critical issues involved. ... More...

Also ...
• USA: Fix FTA's New Starts program, transit industry pros tell Senate...
• Milwaukee: Feds OK nearly $55 million for streetcar starter line ... but bickering stalls progress...
• Portland, Oregon: New streetcar line finally gets federal funding...
• USA: FTA planning to revamp New Starts/Small Starts rating criteria...
• Brisbane Reality Check: The high cost of "cheap" busways...
• USA: Obama administration's DOT appointments suggest more signs of major policy change...
• Los Angeles: Voters demonstrate increasing enthusiasm for rail transit initiatives...
• Portland: The freeway city that might have been – without light rail...
• Kalamazoo: Pro-transit vote edging city back toward a real (rail) transit system? ...
• Waco: Streetcar possibility attracts local interest...
• Ft. Lauderdale: Mayor seeks to revive light rail plan...
• USA: "Regime change" at FTA, FRA bodes well for public transport...
• Detroit: As "BRT" plan fizzles, light rail moves to center stage...
• US streetcar development gets another boost from Blumenauer...

Not only does the federal government gives substantially more financial support to roads than to transit, but, in addition to much lower authorizations for transit, the federal match (percentage of project cost covered) for transit grants has in practice been considerably less than for highway grants.... More...

On 27 December 2008, Phoenix opened the USA's latest totally new rail transit system – its $1.4-billion, 20-mile light rail transit starter line, with 28 stations, connecting northern Phoenix with its eastern suburbs of Tempe and Mesa. So far, the new light rail seems to be on track to meet or beat its ridership projections for the year... More...

Urban public transit, Amtrak, and hughspeed rail have all been allocated a major influx of desperately needed new funding in the economic stimulus package of the US Obama administration. However, mass transit has nevertheless been allowed only about 1% of the entire stimulus package. Still direly needed is an overhaul of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) policies to free up "shovel- ready" public transport projects for this and potentially future rounds of stimulus funding... More...

Charlotte's new Lynx light rail transit Blue Line has chalked up success after success, with ridership soaring toward a 2025 projection, transit-oriented development thriving, and electric propulsion helping save the cost of diesel fuel for what would otherwise be bus operations. Even a leader of the 2007 anti-transit campaign admits "they are doing better than I expected." ... More...

Several high-profile incidents have sparked a frenzy of official "security" measures targeting rail transit. But does the factual evidence actually suggest that rail passenger operations and facilities are higher-risk targets, or preferentially utilized in terrorist attacks? As this analysis indicates, the proportion of rail-related incidents is extremely small. Thus, with rail services and facilities implicated in only a tiny percentage of total terrorism incidents, why are rail passenger services being singled out for special security crackdowns – especially when nearly 3/4 of all incidents involve private motor vehicles, which nowhere are being subjected to such measures? ... More...

After 3 decades of planning and construction, the Sprinter diesel-powered light railway serving northern suburbs of the San Diego metro area has finally opened. The 22-mile east-west line, linking the towns of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido, has been attracting passengers by the thousands ... More...

This Weblog-style feature provides an ongoing forum for relating current and familiar claims and allegations – and Urban Legends – promulgated by rail transit opponents, and then fact-checking and responding to them from a pro-transit advocacy perspective.
Other issues: ... Portland: New Yellow Line LRT on interstate Ave. covers capital investment from operating cost savings and benefits ... London: Lower public transit costs, better services – all from out-sourcing operations? ... Boston: "Big Dig" highway project a "waste" with less than 2% of urban trips? ... Dallas: Light rail carries as many as 16% of residents in corridor – on a Sunday! ... More...

The latest effort by national anti-transit, anti-planning, pro-sprawl activist Randal O'Toole to trash Portland's reputation as a model of effective planning and superb urban transit is adroitly and powerfully rebutted by a critical rejoinder sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). ... More...

Recent US data continue to confirm that public transit – particularly light rail and other forms of rail transit – is an extremely safe way to travel compared with private motor vehicles on streets, freeways, and highways ... and certainly, by far the safest way to travel in urban areas. ... More...

Growing interest in electric rail transit seems to have got Road Warriors in the motor vehicle and highway construction industies seriously bent out of shape and really running scared, leading them to mount a ferocious and massive public relations blitz, apparently designed to convince us all that - despite our intuition, and despite the barrage of evidence to the contrary - petroleum-fueled motor vehicles, including private cars, SUVs, and buses, are supposedly superior to electric rail transit. This article responds to a number of recent propaganda attacks on rail transit. ... More...

"Bus Rapid Transit" promoters, led by Bill Vincent of the so-called "Breakthrough Technologies institute", claim that "BRT" is better than rail for addressing a number of urban ills. However, their latest media campaign consists of a string of whoppers. While some of those who promote BRT mean well, most of them seem to believe transit is strictly for the poor and seem to be out to kill good rapid transit. ... More...

Contrary to a widely held notion among the public that rail transit systems, such as light rail transit, are weighted down with substantial heavy capital expense, while buses are more or less "free", bus systems incur sizable capital expenses, too, as well as rail, with typically much higher operational costs – and often, when you add up all these costs, account for the relative life of the components, plus the work performed, you may find that rail actually gives amazing "bang for the buck" ... as this case study of bus vs. rail in St. Louis suggests... More...