News and Media

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement in response to Senate passage, by a vote of 74-22, of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century surface transportation bill (S.1813), known as MAP-21. “The Senate today has proven that bipartisanship can boost the economy, fix […]

ORLANDO, FL—Leaders from 32 transportation unions gathered here to forge a transportation investment, jobs and safety agenda vital to a strong industry and thriving economy. “The old playbook in Washington has been tossed out by many lawmakers, and bipartisan support traditionally seen for transportation jobs bills that fuel the economy is evaporating,” Edward Wytkind, president […]

[As posted by Keith Laing in The Hill’s Transportation Report Supporters of the two transportation bills stuck in the House and Senate are pessimistic either will win chamber approval now that they have lost any momentum they once had. Labor groups supporting the $109 billion, two-year Senate transportation bill thought that legislation could get through […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on the Huffington Post] Does the nation need Congress to quickly finish a surface transportation investment bill that funds the operations and infrastructure of our mass transit systems, highways, bridges, railroads and ports? You bet. Does H.R. 7, the pending House version of this legislation, get us there? Not even close. […]

[By Joan Lowy of the Associated Press] WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems are at the point of hindering U.S. economic growth, but Congress is struggling to come up with a solution. The problems are numerous. One of the big problems: Americans have been driving less for several years due to […]

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement ahead of the House Ways & Means Committee mark-up on transportation funding legislation. “It is unconscionable that the House Ways & Means Committee is preparing to gut the Mass Transit Account by diverting nearly half of the federal investment in […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement in response to Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee approval of the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012: “The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee showed today that Democrats and Republicans can work together and agree […]

Spending Flexibility Measures Needed in H.R. 7 to Slow Transit Service and Job Cuts WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement on the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R.7): “There is no time to waste in completing a surface transportation bill that puts millions of Americans […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on the Huffington Post] In this time of economic crisis, when more people are trading in their monthly parking garage passes for subway tokens and bus fare, wouldn’t it be a good idea to give transit agencies the flexibility to spend money on keeping systems operating and fares low? We […]

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), made this statement following President Obama’s State of the Union speech yesterday evening: “Millions of working people last night heard President Obama declare it is time to ‘do some nation-building right here at home’ by shifting federal resources to America’s transportation and other infrastructure […]