Tucson's project to install a modern light rail streetcar system and extend and upgrade the city's existing heritage streetcar operation (Old Pueblo Trolley) continues to make significant progress. On August 20th, a major new section along Fourth Avenue, with an underpass beneath the city's main railroad artery, was opened, implementing the essential link between the University of Arizona and the northeast central city and tthe city's downtown and other areas served by the planned streetcar..... More...

As the USA faces massive financial collapse and economic crisis, and a new administration takes the helm in Washington, both the incoming administration and the US Congress are now seriously considering various alternatives for economic stimulus and stabilization. Support is mounting for a major public works initiative – in effect, a 21st-century version of the 1930s-era "New Deal" – with particular emphasis on addressing America's dire infrastructure crisis involving bridges, urban utilities, railways, public transit, transportation electrification, and other aspects of critical infrastructure. Proponents of such a program argue it can bring jobs and economic uplift – as well as providing crucial alternatives to petroleum dependency – but it must include public transportation investment at its core. This webpage provides a listing of recent articles on the Light Rail Now! website that address some of the most critical issues involved. ... More...

Also ...
• France programs massive investment of as much as €21 billion (US $29 billion) for urban electric rail transit development...
• Reno planning to convert new "BRT" line to streetcar system...
• Phoenix: Light rail boosts uptown's economic revival...
• Winston-Salem, NC: Officials eye federal stimulus funds for modern streetcar proposal...
• San Antonio: New light rail/streetcar concept gains support...
• USA: Reeling from world economic crash, 90% of public transit systems raise fares or cut service...
• Norfolk area: Virginia Beach mulls light rail link-up with Norfolk's Tide project...
• Cincinnati: Streetcar plan, and future of all rail, to be decided in November 3rd vote...
• Brisbane: How a "flexible" busway can grind to a halt...

On July 18th the initial segment of Seattle's 13.9-mile (22-km) Central Link Light Rail line opened, bringing a semi-metro-type of rapid transit service to the Puget Sound region.... More...

The Seattle area's exhaustive trek toward installing an urban rapid transit-type system – culminating in the completion and opening of the new Link light rail transit system in the summer of 2009 – has been lengthy and fraught with difficulties..... More...

On 3 November 2009, Cincinnati voters affirmed the city's need for rail transit by defeating a referendum that would have stymied further rail passenger service development. The first phase of the project, about 6 track-miles, is now under way, and it represents the revival of at least a small segment of the extensive electric rail system the city had in the past. Envisioned as the core of an eventual citywide light rail streetcar system, the streetcar starter line would function as the urban component of an ultimately much larger rail transit network... More...

Bogotá, Colombia' s TransMilenio "bus rapid transit" system is increasingly being promoted as a preferred model for higher-performance transit in other cities – particularly in the developing Third World – and its status has been elevated with its approval by the United Nations to sell "carbon credits". But "BRT" promoters are omitting critical details, and TransMilenio's "carbon credits" award actually raises troubling questions about the UN's Clean Development Mechanism program. ... More...

Major developments in rail transit – including both expansion of light rail transit and the imminent launching of a new regional passenger rail system – in the Twin Cities urban area of Minneapolis-St. Paul (Minnesota) are summarized in this commentary by Roy Benedict.... More...

In December 2008, the Rail Runner Express regional passenger rail transit service in New Mexico took a huge leap forward when service was extended to Santa Fe. And with thousands of daily passenger-trips now being attracted, the system's success has stimulated interest in expanding the line southeast to Las Cruces and even El Paso, and north toward Colorado.... More...

Not only does the federal government gives substantially more financial support to roads than to transit, but, in addition to much lower authorizations for transit, the federal match (percentage of project cost covered) for transit grants has in practice been considerably less than for highway grants.... More...

Urban public transit, Amtrak, and hughspeed rail have all been allocated a major influx of desperately needed new funding in the economic stimulus package of the US Obama administration. However, mass transit has nevertheless been allowed only about 1% of the entire stimulus package. Still direly needed is an overhaul of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) policies to free up "shovel- ready" public transport projects for this and potentially future rounds of stimulus funding... More...

Charlotte's new Lynx light rail transit Blue Line has chalked up success after success, with ridership soaring toward a 2025 projection, transit-oriented development thriving, and electric propulsion helping save the cost of diesel fuel for what would otherwise be bus operations. Even a leader of the 2007 anti-transit campaign admits "they are doing better than I expected." ... More...

Several high-profile incidents have sparked a frenzy of official "security" measures targeting rail transit. But does the factual evidence actually suggest that rail passenger operations and facilities are higher-risk targets, or preferentially utilized in terrorist attacks? As this analysis indicates, the proportion of rail-related incidents is extremely small. Thus, with rail services and facilities implicated in only a tiny percentage of total terrorism incidents, why are rail passenger services being singled out for special security crackdowns – especially when nearly 3/4 of all incidents involve private motor vehicles, which nowhere are being subjected to such measures? ... More...

This Weblog-style feature provides an ongoing forum for relating current and familiar claims and allegations – and Urban Legends – promulgated by rail transit opponents, and then fact-checking and responding to them from a pro-transit advocacy perspective.
Other issues: ... Portland: New Yellow Line LRT on interstate Ave. covers capital investment from operating cost savings and benefits ... London: Lower public transit costs, better services – all from out-sourcing operations? ... Boston: "Big Dig" highway project a "waste" with less than 2% of urban trips? ... Dallas: Light rail carries as many as 16% of residents in corridor – on a Sunday! ... More...

The latest effort by national anti-transit, anti-planning, pro-sprawl activist Randal O'Toole to trash Portland's reputation as a model of effective planning and superb urban transit is adroitly and powerfully rebutted by a critical rejoinder sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). ... More...

Growing interest in electric rail transit seems to have got Road Warriors in the motor vehicle and highway construction industies seriously bent out of shape and really running scared, leading them to mount a ferocious and massive public relations blitz, apparently designed to convince us all that - despite our intuition, and despite the barrage of evidence to the contrary - petroleum-fueled motor vehicles, including private cars, SUVs, and buses, are supposedly superior to electric rail transit. This article responds to a number of recent propaganda attacks on rail transit. ... More...

"Bus Rapid Transit" promoters, led by Bill Vincent of the so-called "Breakthrough Technologies institute", claim that "BRT" is better than rail for addressing a number of urban ills. However, their latest media campaign consists of a string of whoppers. While some of those who promote BRT mean well, most of them seem to believe transit is strictly for the poor and seem to be out to kill good rapid transit. ... More...

Contrary to a widely held notion among the public that rail transit systems, such as light rail transit, are weighted down with substantial heavy capital expense, while buses are more or less "free", bus systems incur sizable capital expenses, too, as well as rail, with typically much higher operational costs – and often, when you add up all these costs, account for the relative life of the components, plus the work performed, you may find that rail actually gives amazing "bang for the buck" ... as this case study of bus vs. rail in St. Louis suggests... More...