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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: transportation

transportation stories: 34 news summaries

1 - 20 of 34 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

OPINION

 Olympic Snub Has 
 Silver Lining 
 for Chicago 

Good ideas and sober assessments made during bid should go forward

(Newser) - Chicago failed in its bid to land the Olympics, but look on the bright side, the Tribune urges: If the city builds on the bright ideas and redevelopment plans designed to sway the IOC, it can have all the benefits with none of the hassle. “Bidding for an... More »

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Chicago transportation 2016 Olympics bid International Olympic Committee urban planning Chicago Tribune IOC redevelopment

 Cabbies Ask for Vomit Penalty 

Chicago drivers want messy drunks to pay $50

(Newser) - Chicago cab drivers want drunk passengers who vomit in their cars to pay a $50 fine. Drivers today asked the city for the penalty along with an overall rate increase of 22%. Chicago cabbies are among the lowest paid in the country, with wages averaging $4.38 an hour over... More »

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Chicago alcohol taxi Illinois transportation vomiting

MARKETS

 Dow Climbs 80 as 
 Stocks Hit 2009 Highs 

September correction has yet to strike

(Newser) - Stock indices hit highs for 2009 today, alleviating fears that September would bring a major correction after the summer's rally, the Wall Street Journal reports. Energy stocks led the S&P 500, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average—considered a general indicator of national economic sentiment—rose 2.35%. Procter... More »

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Dow Jones Nasdaq transportation S&P 500 Procter & Gamble energy sector

OPINION
(Newser) - NPR reporter Jason Beaubien didn’t plan to drive across Cuba, but it did provide an apt look at the many problems the island faces. The “Spanish phrase ‘No hay,’ meaning ‘there's no fill-in-the-blank,’ was a constant refrain on this trip,” he reports. The... More »

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Cuba crisis driving transportation highways hitchhiking

(Newser) - United Airlines’ dismal service and financial stature may soon send it to Chapter 11, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a “teachable moment,” Shaun Rein writes in Forbes. Herewith, three lessons:
  • Loyal customers return: "Consumers are more price sensitive in this economy,
... More »

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bankruptcy airline industry United Airlines transportation air travel customer service employees morale brand loyalty

(Newser) - Two-thirds of the country lives in big cities, but less than half of the federal stimulus’ transportation money is going to fix their often crumbling roads, the New York Times reports. States were allowed to decide for themselves how stimulus money was spent, and state lawmakers have a long... More »

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roadways transportation infrastructure cities highways economic stimulus package

(Newser) - Train riders might not actually have that much to lord over their jet-setting rivals as far as pollution goes, Scientific American reports. A new study shows that although planes emit three times more greenhouse gasses per passenger per mile than trains, the industrial emissions necessary to rail infrastructure makes the... More »

(Newser) - After failing to reach an agreement with management, London Underground workers will go on a two-day strike starting tomorrow evening, Reuters reports. The dispute over worker safety could affect millions of commuters and tourists. London transportation authorities say they will add extra buses and ferries to accommodate the disruption. More »

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London subway England strike transportation London Tube labor unions Boris Johnson London Underground job safety

Obama Seeks $27B to Clamp Down on Border

Budget focuses on halting flow of guns, illegal immigrants

(Newser) - In the budget he’ll hand to Congress tomorrow, President Obama is seeking $27 billion for border and transportation security as he focuses on immigration enforcement and battling the flow of US arms to Mexico. The 8% increase over this year’s budget allows for an expansion of border teams,... More »

US Prisons Leave Driving
to Greyhound

Convicts unescorted
in transfers; feds say there's little risk

(Newser) - Federal convicts regularly transfer themselves between prisons unescorted, riding public transportation without a guard in sight, WFAA-TV reports. Some 5,300 have switched prisons on their own since April 2006; 54,000 have headed to halfway houses. And in 2003-05, 77 escaped while en route. “It’s an inherent... More »

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travel prison convict prison system transportation Bureau of Prisons buses Greyhound

(Newser) - More and more US companies are setting up shop in suburban areas far from urban centers in a trend known as “job sprawl,” USA Today reports. Though urban jobs increased overall from 1998-2006, a Brookings Institution report shows the share of employment opportunities within 3 miles of downtown... More »

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employment recession transportation commuting suburbs job metropolitan areas job sprawl

(Newser) - Although the stimulus package that Barack Obama signed last month contains eye-watering sums, the earliest projects out of the gate are far from monumental: widening a highway in Kansas, resurfacing some roads in Missouri. More than a dozen states have announced their plans to spend their share of the $50... More »

Obama Pushes 'Shovel Ready' Projects for Stimulus

$150 billion in plans ready to go across US

(Newser) - The US has 19,000 public projects ready to go, with the potential to infuse $150 billion into the economy and put thousands of people to work, NPR reports. President Obama is pushing for immediate approval of the $700 billion economic stimulus bill to start paying for the work, but... More »

DC Cuts in Half Inaugural Crowd Estimates

Transit survey shows about 2.5M are heading for the capital

(Newser) - Washington officials have sliced in half earlier estimates for the number of people expected to swarm Washington for the inauguration, the Washington Post reports. The original projections, as high as 5 million, were founded on the election’s historic nature, while revised numbers are based on talks with transport companies... More »

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transportation inauguration Washington, DC crowd public transit President Obama Inauguration Day

GOP's LaHood Will Take Transportation Post

Illinois congressman was retiring from seat

(Newser) - Barack Obama has chosen Illinois congressman Ray LaHood, a Republican, for the post of transportation secretary, Bloomberg reports. Obama is expected to make the announcement by the end of the week. LaHood, 63, had already announced his retirement from Congress this year after seven terms. He has a reputation for... More »

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transportation Dept. of Transportation President Obama Obama Cabinet Ray LaHood

OPINION

Infrastructure Revitalization Is Right and Right

A conservative argues for investing in water, energy, transport

(Newser) - Conservatives who fear that investing in the nation’s infrastructure goes against core Reaganite values need to get over it. Our aging energy, water, and transportation systems are in dire need of corporate dollars and ingenuity, but “the private sector alone cannot handle the job—and the states are... More »

ANALYSIS

 US Infrastructure 
 Is a 'Bridge to 
 Almost Nowhere' 

Infrastructure spending is critical, but not on bridges to nowhere

(Newser) - Recently the House passed an $18 billion infrastructure bill, and Barack Obama has indicated that he'll ask for billions more in spending to create jobs while improving the nation's roads and bridges. But as New York Times columnist David Leonhardt writes, insufficient investment is only part of the problem. At... More »

 UPS, FedEx Jump 
 to Fill DHL's Holes 

Big Brown targets customers with ad buy, in talks to add DHL load

(Newser) - After DHL announced yesterday it was vacating the US express-mail market, UPS and FedEx ratcheted up efforts to snare as many of the Belgium-based company’s customers as possible, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. DHL handles 1.1 million shipments per day, 5% of the express and ground market in which... More »

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transportation shipping FedEx DHL United Parcel Service Inc. financial crisis

glossies

 Strapped Schools
 Say Bye to Bus Rides

New generation can tell grandkids they walked to school

(Newser) - As high gas prices strangle US school budgets, more officials are cutting back where it hurts student scores least: school buses. Some schools are limiting or redesigning bus routes, but others have nixed busing entirely, leaving thousands of kids to hoof it under adult supervision. Some parents object, but many... More »

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environment conservation transportation gas prices school districts school budget fuel costs school bus

More US Drivers Take Swing at Golf Carts

Popularity soars, but safety issues could sideline vehicles

(Newser) - Faced with high fuel prices, many Americans are leaving the hot rod at home and  zipping around town in golf carts. But the country club staple’s trip from the fairway to Main Street hasn't been entirely smooth, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports. Rules governing their use vary... More »

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Indiana Indianapolis transportation golf cart

1 - 20 of 34 Stories | 1 2 Next >>