Category Archives: transportation

Highway Trust Fund Lacks Budgetary Controls

The Highway Trust Fund report is unwelcome news for politicians of both parties who have refused to act on the problem for a decade or more, showing particular reluctance to raise taxes as the nation’s infrastructure crumbles. HTF revenues come from excise taxes on the sale of motor fuels, trucks and trailers, and truck tires, and from taxes on the use of certain kinds of vehicles. Continue reading

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Department of Transportation Kisses Big Oil and Railroad Butts

The problem, the deadly problem, is that many of the tank cars in use by Big Oil and the railroads to move crude oil are not safe – as the Lac-Mégantic derailment that killed 42 civilians and wiped half of a southern Quebec town proved. Continue reading

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Democrats Plan to Bail Out Bankrupt Highway Trust Fund

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have refused since 1993 to raise gasoline taxes of 18.4 cents per gallon as well as a 24.4-cent diesel tax, the trust fund’s major revenue source. Inflation has raised the cost of construction, while revenue has lagged because Americans are driving less and vehicles are more fuel-efficient. Continue reading

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Navy Wins, so do Wounded Veterans at Achilles Freedom Team

During Saturday’s 114th Army-Navy Game, GM CEO Dan Akerson presented a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado High Country 1500 crew cab pickup truck to the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. Continue reading

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EPA Wants Air Quality to Improve in Ports

Most of the country’s busiest ports are located near large metropolitan areas and, as a result, people in nearby communities can be exposed to high levels of diesel emissions. Continue reading

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Penske Buys Texas Toyota and Hyundai Dealerships

Penske said it expects to generate approximately $200 million in revenue each year from the new stores. Continue reading

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2.95 Trillion Miles Travelled on Interstate Highways During 2011

Drivers tallied 2.95 trillion miles during 2011 on U.S. interstate highways, according to a new report from the Federal Highway Administration, or nearly double the number of highway miles traveled in 1980. Continue reading

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Georgia Most Expensive State to Drive in, Oregon Cheapest

California ($3,966), Wyoming ($3,938), Rhode Island ($3,913) and Nevada ($3,886) round out the five most expensive states. Alaska ($2,227), South Dakota ($2,343), Montana ($2,660) and Indiana ($2,698) join Oregon among the five cheapest states. Continue reading

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DOJ Antitrust Suit Opposes American – US Airways Merger

The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit opposing the proposed $11 billion merger between US Airways and American Airlines. DOJ said that the merger would result in world’s largest airline, and would “substantially lessen competition for commercial air travel in local markets throughout the United States and result in passengers paying higher airfares and receiving less service.” Continue reading

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Jaguar E-type on First Class Royal Mail Stamp

The Jaguar E-type known for its sleek shape and 150 mph performance is being celebrated on one of three new First Class postage stamps launched today by the Royal Mail. The stamp shows a 1961 Series One Jaguar E-type roadster, aka XK-E, in red as one of a set of six classic British motor cars. The E-type was an instant hit when it was first unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961. Purists will question why the stamp doesn’t picture an E in British Racing Green. Continue reading

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Honda Project Drive-In Aims at Keeping American Icons Open

Honda said that giving people easy ways to get involved would ensure that this drive-ins, a historic part of American cinema and car culture, live on. At www.projectdrivein.com people can vote to determine which five drive-in theaters will receive a new digital projector from Honda. Continue reading

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License Plate Recognition is a Valuable not Abusive Tracking Claims Pressure Group. After NSA that’s Tough to Believe

License plate recognition technology is a tool that helps law enforcers solve crimes and save lives, according to a new survey of law enforcement professionals. However, license plate readers mounted on police cars or on road signs and bridges, use small, high-speed cameras to photograph thousands of plates per minute as federal and state governments continue their relentless pursuit of spying and abusive data collection, according to critics. The TSA is subsidizing the technology under the Obama Administration through grants to buy the readers. Continue reading

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Aging Fleet Good for Automakers, Aftermarket

The U.S. vehicle fleet continues to age with an average now at a record high of 11.4 years based on review of more than 247-million U.S. car and light truck registrations on 1 January 2013. Continue reading

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DOT Wants to Eliminate Needless Trucking Paperwork

In what has been a largely symbolic act, President Obama launched the Administration’s regulatory initiative in January 2011 by issuing Executive Order 13563. That called for a government-wide review of regulations on the books, with the goal of eliminating or modifying out-of-date, ineffective or overly burdensome regulations. Not much of substance came from the bureaucracy. Continue reading

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Milestones – First Asphalt Road

On this day in 1870, a U.S. professor who had emigrated from Belgium applied an asphalt sheet to William Street in Newark, New Jersey as a test. It worked. Edward de Smedt, the inventor of asphalt mix, proved the value of his invention in combating the ubiquitous mud or dusty roads of the day. Continue reading

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