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Restraining order issued to Chinatown bus service
PHILADELPHIA— Federal transportation officials have obtained a restraining order against a charter bus company that serves New York City’s Chinatown, saying the company continues to operate in defiance of a shutdown prompted by serious safety problems. The Department of Transportation says the federal court in Philadelphia issued the restraining order against Double Happyness Travel Inc. [[...]
Pipkin demands Maryland transportation head step down
State Sen. E.J. Pipkin, R-Upper Shore, has turned his sights on another branch of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration. The top Republican in the upper chamber, Pipkin called Friday for the resignation of Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley in the wake of a highly critical review of the State Highway Administration. Swaim-Staley “has presided over a […]
Hook up E-ZPasses: ICC no longer is free
The free ride is over. Drivers cruising the Inter-County Connector will pay to use Maryland’s most expensive highway starting Monday. The road — officially Route 200 — opened in full Nov. 22, providing motorists a high-speed connection between Interstates 95 and 270 that allows them to skip the slog along the oft-congested Capital Beltway. The […]
MARC bids closed until Board of Public Works
State procurement law prevents the Maryland Transit Administration from disclosing proposal details, dollar figures or any other facets of bids to run a pair of MARC lines now operated by CSX Transportation Inc. There’s no timetable set by MTA to get the deal to the Board of Public Works, where members of the public — […]
Baltimore’s MBE program: New obstacles to an old goal
Nestled among patches of trees on North Rolling Road in Catonsville is a brick building that looks much like the surrounding residences, except for the white trucks in the driveway with “AWA Mechanical Inc.” painted on the sides. Inside the home, AWA’s owner, Alphonso Washington, has set up his office desk next to the kitchen. […]
Airline fine may send flight cancellations soaring
WASHINGTON — The government’s $900,000 fine Monday against an American Airlines affiliate for holding hundreds of passengers on board a small jet for hours on an airport tarmac may serve as a deterrent to future such incidents. But industry analysts warned that may come with the price of more canceled flights. Even before the fine […]
Who would feel the proposed Maryland gas tax hike?
While a 15-cent bump in the state’s gas tax may seem steep — the increase would amount to nearly 64 percent — members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding were divided on how much of the burden the state’s drivers would bear. The state’s 23.5-cent gas tax is assessed at the wholesale […]
City set to change bidding rules
The Baltimore Board of Estimates is set to vote Wednesday to alter the way contracts are awarded to bidders of some public works projects, and while some say it could save the city money, smaller contractors are worried that it could shut them out of the process. The proposed change to the city’s charter would […]
Real Estate Weekly – 9/23/11: Bridge replacement planning funds OK’d
Redskins’ stadium turns to solar power A new solar installation at FedExField in Landover — the home of the Washington Redskins — has been completed by NRG, one of the largest solar power developers in the United States. The 8,000-panel project — the largest such installation at an NFL stadium — can provide up to […]
Port of Baltimore now No. 1 international auto shipping hub
The Port of Baltimore was the busiest international automobile shipping hub in the United States in the first half of 2011, according to figures released Monday. Baltimore eclipsed New York, the top auto shipper last year, with 270,700 vehicles handled from January through June, about 30,000 more than in the corresponding period in 2010. Those […]
State gets $22M for new Susquehanna rail bridge
WASHINGTON — Maryland’s two U.S. senators say the state will receive $22 million in federal stimulus funding to begin work on replacing a rail bridge over the Susquehanna River. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin say replacing the 105-year-old bridge on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is needed so the line can handle high-speed passenger trains. The […]
More on the Maryland transportation funding puzzle
Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, the chairman of the powerful Budget and Taxation Committee, had a frank assessment Wednesday of the General Assembly’s record on the gasoline tax. “We just didn’t do our job,” he said. The excise tax on gasoline has been 23.5 cents per gallon since 1992, and before that, gas tax hikes were a […]
