News and Media

[As published By Haya El Nasser in Al Jazeera America] LOS ANGELES — When shiny new light-rail cars roll out on L.A. Metro tracks in two years, they will likely have been made by a Japanese company. But most of the workers who assemble them will be American. In Chicago, a $2 billion railcar contract will be won partly […]

[As published By Edward Wytkind in Huffington Post] On October 2nd, Amtrak reported that four of its century-old underwater rail tunnels in and out of New York City are in need of extensive repairs and that service will be “badly curtailed” — terrible news for both daily commuters and passengers who take 260 million trips a […]

[As published by Fawn Johnson in National Journal] It’s a longstanding practice in government to give big contracts to companies that offer to do a specific job for the lowest price. A multi-billion dollar contracting industry is built on this premise, and generally it functions well for everyone. We as citizens get our roads and pipelines and subways […]

[As published in Metro] On a telebriefing convened by the Jobs to Move America coalition this week, experts in economics, sociology, and urban planning highlighted a national trend of city and state leaders harnessing billions in public transportation spending through a new, innovative U.S. Employment Plan – an incentives-based approach to reward manufacturing companies for creating […]

[As published by Jobs to Move America in Mass Transit] On a telebriefing convened by the Jobs to Move America coalition today, experts in economics, sociology, and urban planning highlighted a national trend of city and state leaders harnessing billions in public transportation spending through a new, innovative U.S. Employment Plan – an incentives-based approach to reward […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement today regarding a letter sent by 77 members of Congress to Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Tom Wheeler: “Today, 77 members of […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement today about the consideration of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 (PRRIA) by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: “Today’s approval by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement today regarding the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s move to mark up H.R. 4926, a bill to designate the “James L. Oberstar Memorial Highway” and the “James L. Oberstar National Scenic Byway” in the State of Minnesota: “Throughout his long […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement today in response to the introduction of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 (PRRIA) by Representatives Bill Shuster, Nick Rahall, Jeff Denham, and Corrine Brown: “The introduction of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 […]

[As published by Keith Laing in The Hill] The House is proposing a 40 percent funding cut for Amtrak construction in a new passenger rail bill that was unveiled on Thursday by the chamber’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Amtrak has traditionally received about $1 billion per year from the federal government since its inception in 1971. Most of the proposed […]