- Transportation And Infrastructure Champion DeFazio Will Retire From Congress
- New Pilot Program Will Permit A Limited Number Of Teens To Drive Commercial Trucks
- NYSBA Makes Short Work Of Tollbooth Removal
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Transportation And Infrastructure Champion DeFazio Will Retire From Congress
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports on US Representative Peter DeFazio’s decision not to seek election to a nineteenth term in Congress next year. The southwest Oregon lawmaker, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a steadfast advocate for federal investment in transportation, helped push through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) “even as he has complained that the plan did not include investments he favored in things like climate change and high-speed rail.” DeFazio, 74, is retiring “just as he has reason to believe his path to reelection would be easier” because the state adopted a redistricting plan deemed favorable to Democratic candidates. The congressman cited the strains of commuting — he estimates he’s spent “the equivalent of 435, 40-hour workweeks” shuttling between his district and Washington since 1987 — as one reason for his retirement, but he’s also clearly frustrated by congressional stasis.
OregonLive.com also covers the retirement announcement.
Roll Call reports, two members, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA 2), have announced they will seek to replace DeFazio as the top Democrat on the Transportation & I Committee.
New Pilot Program Will Permit A Limited Number Of Teens To Drive Commercial Trucks
Transport Topics reports, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (at section 23022) creates a pilot apprenticeship program that could open the door to interstate truck driving jobs for a limited number of persons as young as 18. The program “was opposed by safety advocates who point out that teenagers crash at four times the rate of older drivers. But it was included in the infrastructure law at the urging of the industry, which says it is 80,000 drivers short of where it needs to be to meet demand projections.” The article notes that the apprenticeship program came about through the trucking industry’s advocacy of driving rule changes that, in its view, are needed to ensure “supply chain continuity.”
Highway and Bridge Safety (Including COVID-19 Impacts) US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesNYSBA Makes Short Work Of Tollbooth Removal
Daily Freeman reports, “Just one day after cashless tolling began on the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, the toll booth at the west end of the Hudson River crossing, in the town of Ulster, was all but gone.” On Wednesday, the bridge became the fourth of the New York State Bridge Authority’ sfive spans to transition to all-electronic, open-road tolling.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) ETC Systems Highway and Bridge Maintenance New York New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA)These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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