{"id":25926,"date":"2015-12-22T14:57:18","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T19:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/?p=25926"},"modified":"2015-12-22T14:57:18","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T19:57:18","slug":"2016-omnibus-amtrak-funding-bill-congress-must-do-better-for-passenger-rail-and-roadway-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/2016-omnibus-amtrak-funding-bill-congress-must-do-better-for-passenger-rail-and-roadway-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Omnibus Amtrak funding bill","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Congress must do better for passenger rail and roadway safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>By John Previsich, President, SMART Transportation Division<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin: 4px 12px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SMART_TD_logo_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"42\" \/>While we look favorably on efforts made by members of congress to implement stronger and more wide-spread transportation policy upgrades \u2013 including increased funding for mass transit and highway safety programs, we are still concerned that passenger rail funding continues to fall short, and also, that safety transportation mandates continue to be swept aside.<br \/>\nThe fact that funding allocations in FY16 Omnibus for Amtrak falls well below authorized levels for passenger rail, brings concern for the short and long-term effects on the viability, efficiency and safety of Amtrak passenger services.<br \/>\nConcerning roadway transit, members of congress made the right move by excluding a federal proposal in the Omnibus Spending Bill designed to force states to allow \u201cDouble 33s\u201d on the road.<br \/>\nTrailer trucks, including mammoth, 33-foot freight trucks, have left a trail of tragedy along every major American roadway. Each year, more than 4,000 people are killed in trailer truck crashes, and more than 100,000 are injured.<br \/>\nWhile excluding the Double 33s proposal was an important move forward, members of congress also took a step back, as the bill includes an extension of the Collins amendment, which removes truckers \u201cweekends off.\u201d\u00a0 This allows driving time to exceed 80 hours per week &#8211; causing major fatigue, the leading factor in truck-related crashes.<br \/>\nWe ask members of congress to stand and deliver on the job they were entrusted to do \u2013 which is, to protect the public, not corporate interests \u2013 and bring all areas of transportation onto a platform of safety and viability.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congress must do better for passenger rail and roadway safety By John Previsich, President, SMART Transportation Division While we look favorably on efforts made by members of congress to implement stronger and more wide-spread transportation policy upgrades \u2013 including increased funding for mass transit and highway safety programs, we are still concerned that passenger rail [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - 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