Senators Seek Rail Safety Funding in Aftermath of Metro Crash
Mere hours after the Washington Metro system suffered a shocking accident, two senior senators released a letter to their colleagues asking for $50 million in grants to improve rail safety technology.
The scene of yesterday's D.C. Metro crash. Photo: NYTThe letter was sent by two chairmen with a central role in transportation policy -- commerce committee chief Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and environment committee chief Barbara Boxer (D-CA) -- to the two senators who shepherd the annual transportation budget, Patty Murray (D-WA) and Kit Bond (R-MO).
Rockefeller and Boxer noted that a $50 million investment in technology improvement grants was authorized last year when Congress passed a new rail safety law. That law favored rail safety upgrades that implemented "positive train control," a computerized program to prevent crashes that safety experts said might have averted last year's deadly California Metrolink crash.
As Rockefeller and Boxer wrote to their fellow senators:
Morecommuters are turning to commuter rail today than ever before. In thesetough economic times, with many commuter rail agencies facing budget cuts,funding for the railroad safety technology grants is vital to ensure thatimportant safety measures continue to be implemented.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Thursday’s Headlines: Welcome to the War on Cars, Scientific American
Our favorite story yesterday was this editorial in an unexpected place. Plus other news.
Meet the MTA Board Member and Congestion Pricing Foe Who Uses Bridges and Tunnels For Free Every Day
Mack drives over the transportation authority's bridges and tunnels thanks to a rare perk of which he is the primary beneficent.
Randy Mastro Aspires Join Mayor’s Inner Circle of Congestion Pricing Foes
The mayor's reported pick to run the city Law Department is former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani and notorious foe of bike lanes and congestion pricing.
Donald Shoup: Here’s a Parking Policy That Works for the People
Free parking has a veneer of equality, but it is unfair. Here's a proposal from America's leading parking academic that could make it more equitable.
Brooklyn Civic Panel Can’t Agree How to Solve NYPD Sidewalk Parking
Move the illegal sidewalk parking or denounce it altogether?
