By Calvin Studivant, Vice President – Bus – On behalf of the Smart Transportation Division officers, and especially the officers of the Bus Department, I would like to wish all of our members and their loved ones a safe, healthy and prosperous 2015. Now that the electi [...]
Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith asks that all members from the state call or email key legislators to pass the bill funding Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. “A bill to save the Southwest Chief will be heading to the Colorado Legislature’s Senate Appr [...]
RALEIGH, N.C. – America’s railroads want five more years to stop train wrecks using a high-tech system costing more than $15 billion. But experts tell The Associated Press that it won’t keep trains and trucks from crashing together unless both industries use a com [...]
BOSTON – Led by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) Vice President Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, mayors pledged March 23 to work together to urge Congress to move past parti [...]
The Minnesota Senate Committee on Transportation and Public Safety and the Senate Committee on Judiciary have approved legislation requiring two qualified train-crew personnel on all trains in the state with bipartisan support. Senate File 918 is now before the full Minnesota [...]
Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan has weighed in on right to work “for less” legislation that is being pushed by Governor Bruce Rauner allowing local governments to create “Right-to-Work” zones wile banning prevailing wages for residents working in those “zones.” In her [...]
Employers and employees covered by the Railroad Retirement Act pay higher retirement taxes than those covered by the Social Security Act, so that railroad retirement benefits remain higher than Social Security benefits, especially for “career” employees who have 30 or more ye [...]
State Legislative Director Ken Menges reports that the Missouri Legislative Board has a new website at www.smartmoslb.org. Members can now stay up to date on issues affecting their jobs as well as issues affecting Missouri locals. Members can contact the board directly throug [...]
U.S. railroads have not hauled so much crude oil since the short period at the dawn of the petroleum age, when John D. Rockefeller relied on trains to build his Standard Oil empire. But the long, black tanker trains are only the most visible way that the changing U.S. energy [...]
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad right-of-way. While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos [...]
