Transportation News

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Help needed for Local 1963 president’s daughter in her cancer fight

Britnee Griffin, daughter of Mike Griffin (a yardmaster, alternate vice chairperson of GCA 347 and the president of Local 1963 in Louisville, Ky.), has been battling aggressive cancer since the spring. The medical bills for her family are mounting, and an online fundraiser ha [...]

APTA reports U.S. rail ridership up in second quarter compared with 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans took more than 2.5 billion passenger trips on public transportation in the second quarter of 2019, according to the quarterly Transit Ridership Report released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), representing 11 million trips [...]

NTSB issues safety recommendation to Class I’s, short lines

As the National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate an accident in Wyoming that killed two SMART TD members out of Local 446, it issued a pair of safety recommendations to Class I railroads and a recommendation to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad [...]

Palmetto: Medicare ready to serve during disasters

When a severe weather event happens (such as a hurricane, typhoon, earthquake or wildfire), the last thing you or your healthcare provider are thinking about is Medicare. Concerns are about staying alive and what kind of home and property damage you will have. Your situation [...]

Golf outing to honor Donald Wheaton

Local 898 in Boston will be holding the Donnie Wheaton Memorial Golf Tournament on Oct. 5 at Maplegate Country Club in Franklin, Mass. Holes are available for sponsorship by SMART TD locals for $150. A 42-year employee for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which became Keo [...]

Texas-area members invited to Houston solidarity rally

Local 1892 invites union members to the fourth-annual Houston Solidarity Rally that is scheduled noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at the SPJST Lounge, 1435 Beall St. in Houston. The event is open to all and has previously drawn members from 16 locals/divisions/lodges from multiple uni [...]

Reminder: Section 6 proposals due by Sept. 30

ATTENTION: All SMART Transportation Division members employed by rail carriers negotiating under the umbrella of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). As you are likely aware, on August 16, 2019, the SMART Transportation Division began the process of formulating [...]

Ohio SLD, members testify before state House for rail safety legislation

COLUMBUS – Proponents of H.B. 186, a comprehensive railroad safety bill being considered in the Ohio Legislature, stated their case in force Sept. 10 during a meeting of the state House’s Transportation and Public Safety Committee. Representatives from SMART Transportation Di [...]

GoFundMe opened for member shot while on the job

On July 22 of this year, Local 1715 member Karen Taylor was shot five times in broad daylight while her Charlotte Area Transit Systems (CATS) bus was stopped to unload passengers. “…just as the last person stepped off of her bus, a man appeared out of nowhere and shot five ti [...]