Phoenix’s newest light-rail extension has Jan. 27, 2024 start

The region will soon have a new connection from Mesa, Tempe and downtown Phoenix to northwest Phoenix. The Northwest Extension Phase II light rail project will officially open for service on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. A ribbon cutting and community celebration is being planned on that day to commemorate the occasion. “As Phoenix continues growing, … Read more

U.S. automakers falling behind in clean-vehicle production: EPA report

WASHINGTON — Automakers continue to sell millions of gas guzzlers and a relative handful of electric and other clean vehicles, making little progress against pollution, according to the Automotive Trends Report released today [Dec. 20, 2023] by the Environmental Protection Agency. The 2022 new vehicle fleet emitted just 10 grams per mile less carbon pollution than … Read more

Nevada DOT receives $3B federal grant: Brightline West to use funds to build CA-NV HSR

“We’re honored and humbled in the confidence President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, Senator Rosen and so many others have placed in Brightline’s vision to bring true high-speed rail to America,” exclaimed Wes Edens, Founder and Chairman of Brightline. “This is a historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry, and a remarkable project … Read more

A leader in the climate age: America’s ‘essential’ railroad network

Editor’s note: The below article was originally published at The Railroad Enthusiast. Americans have this love-hate relationship with trains. The evidence is both clear and undeniable. To High… Prior to its introduction in mid-to-late 1820s America, back then the train was as foreign a concept to its citizens as the New World was to Europe’s first … Read more

Biofuel megaproject operations halted by Bay Area court

MARTINEZ, Calif.— The Contra Costa County Superior Court today [Oct. 12, 2023] ordered Phillips 66 to halt its plan to operate a biofuel refinery in Rodeo, California. The court put the Bay Area megaproject on hold until the county fully complies with environmental review requirements that it violated when first approving the project. Communities for … Read more

70 winners of $1.4B fiscal-year 2022 CRISI grants announced by FRA in October

Here’s another Biden/Harris win about which you probably haven’t heard much…as reported in the latest issue of Progressive Railroading: The Federal Railroad Administration last month announced 70 winners of $1.4 billion in fiscal-year 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program grants. The funds for rail projects in 35 states will help address long-standing rail infrastructure … Read more

Putting new, innovative technologies to work: On building intelligent surface transport

When will we stop building highways? America has 4 million lane-miles of roadway and, on these can be found, 280 million motor vehicles of varying description. Isn’t that enough? Why aren’t we building more transit lines and systems instead? Like Carl Stutzman in The Departure Track: Railways of Tomorrow* stated: “Railroading has been more responsible … Read more

High cost of ‘supersized’ SUV ownership could soar even more

Could it be those slick marketing campaigns with their targeted advertising that do the trick? Is it a one-upmanship sort of back and forth; you know, like a Smith’s versus Jones’s home-consumer-purchasing match just to see who can outdo whom that can be finger-pointed to? Could it be both? Why not?! But, whatever it is that drives … Read more

Half of California diesel fuel replaced by clean fuels for first time

SACRAMENTO— California hit an important milestone in its shift away from polluting fuel sources, with clean fuels replacing over 50% of the diesel used in the state in the first quarter of 2023. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which requires fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of fuel sold in the state, is … Read more