Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

Walker Aims At Building Trades, Private Sector Unions

A Wisconsin State Representative has announced that he will introduce a Right-to-Work for less bill in the upcoming legislative session.  The move comes just days after a former Americans for Prosperity associate, Lorri Pickens, announced a new tea party group called “Wiscons [...]

How two billionaires are destroying high speed rail

Eighteen years have passed since the establishment of the California High Speed Rail (CHSR) Authority. Over the course of those eighteen years, high speed rail in the state has been discussed and planned and delayed and delayed more. There have been proposals, referendums, de [...]

Opinion: Metra engineers, conductors do a great job

The following letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times by Martin Oberman, chairman of the Metra Board of Directors, was published by the newspaper Nov. 23. It was in response to an article previously published by the newspaper that implied that Metra conductors and engin [...]

NJT to train crews: Next stop, charm school

Some NJ Transit rail employees who deal with commuters will find themselves back in the classroom next year for a customer relations refresher. The program was prompted by issues brought up by commuters on social media and shared with NJ Transit. The two day training classes [...]

Opinion: Nice things happen on trains

Imagine you’re in charge of a company that serves the public good; imagine your company, unlike others in the same business, has to ask for money every year to keep itself, an arterial of the country’s transportation system, running. Imagine that fracking, another part of Ame [...]

Sleep apnea should not cost operators jobs or pay

Operators employed in the transit industry continue to experience difficult times in relation to obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. Several types of sleep apnea exist, but the most common [...]

Thank you for your support, I am here to assist you

To each and every delegate of the SMART Transportation Division, I would like to thank you for electing me to the position of vice president of SMART’s bus department. My request to all SMART members is to please work with all of your newly elected officers at all levels of t [...]

NTSB investigating deadly Tenn. school bus crash

Two young girls and one female adult aide were killed and 27 others were injured Tuesday after two Knox County school buses collided on Asheville Highway in East Knoxville. The wreck, which flipped one bus onto its side, happened near Governor John Sevier Highway just before [...]

Gun raffle to benefit Mich. SLD’s daughter

Kelsey Gibson, daughter of Michigan State Legislative Director Jerry Gibson, was in a near-fatal accident in January 2013 when she was broadsided by a pickup truck in heavy fog. Kelsey’s injuries were extensive and included a long hospitalization. It was reported in May [...]

Are rail ‘special duty’ jobs really that special?

What should union members know before accepting an offer from the railroad to work on a “special duty” assignment? For starters, “special duty” assignments are generally not positions covered by the agreement with your union. If “special duty” assignments are not covered unde [...]