Western North Carolina train plans take back seat (Asheville Citizen Times)
A long-stalled plan to bring passenger trains to Asheville could inch forward in the next few months, but it lags other rail projects as a top state priority.
Faster train rides through major population centers will stay at the top of state officials’ wish list.
North Carolina […]
Dutch drivers to pay tax on road time, not on car (AP)
AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government plans to bring the polluter-pays principle into the home garage.
Rather than an annual road tax for their cars, drivers will soon pay a few cents for every kilometer (mile) on the road, in a plan aimed at breaking chronic […]
GOV. PERDUE NAMES BOARD OF TRANSPORATION MEMBERS (Press Release)
RALEIGH – Gov. Perdue today announced appointees to the Board of Transportation. Sam Halsey, David Burns, Gary Ciccone and Ronnie Wall were appointed, and Stan White was reappointed to the board.
Sam Halsey of Jefferson is the owner and broker in charge at Halsey Realty […]
EL PASO — Texans may have to pay more at the gas pump if they want new state highways.
Members of the Texas Senate’s Transportation Committee said Tuesday that an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon state fuel tax may be necessary to overcome a drastic shortage of money for new roads.
“We are in the critical […]
WV Congressman Vows To Keep the Federal Formula that Makes NC a Donor State
Extension of federal road dollars beat stimulus, Rahall insists (Register Herald)
A six-year extension of the federal highway account trumps any second stimulus package that is making the rumor mill on Capitol Hill these days, Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., maintained Tuesday during a […]
Charlotte urban loop to be built with help of private funds (WRAL.com)
A public-private partnership will help finish construction on Charlotte’s Interstate 485 outer loop five years sooner than expected and will save the state $50 million to $100 million, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Monday.
Construction could begin by mid-2010 and be complete by 2015.
Unlike plans to […]
Mayoral Elections Show Strength for Most Incumbents (U.S. Conference of Mayors)
New Leaders Coming to Miami, Charlotte, Dayton, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, other Cities
By David W. Burns
Despite much of the national attention on gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, over a hundred cities across the country held elections for mayor on November 3, many of which […]
Unemployment Concentrated in Metro Areas (US Conference of Mayors)
The Conference of Mayors recently conducted a survey of its Workforce Development Council members regarding local unemployment rates. In many cases, cities were able to provide not only unemployment rates for the metropolitan
areas, but also for the city proper. Some staggering unemployment numbers were found in this […]
Happening Now in Cities/ Metro Areas (US Conference of Mayors Budget Survey)
In an effort to better understand the employment and city budget crises faced by cities today, the Conference of Mayors conducted a brief survey of America’s mayors. One hundred and fifty cities ranging in size from Los Angeles and Chicago to those having populations […]
Senate Action to Extend SAFETEA-LU No Longer Imminent (AASHTO Journal)
As reported in Transportation Weekly, Senate leaders are delaying plans to take up a six-month extension of the surface transportation act and it doesn’t appear such legislation will be taken up any time soon.
It had been expected that leadership in the Senate would attempt to […]
