TTD in the news

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog] While Congressional Democrats and Republicans squabble over whether, and how, to cut payroll taxes for employers, they’re ironically set to cut from one popular program that’s already allowed employers to save hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll taxes while offering vital commuter benefits. As […]

[As published in The Hill] It’s happened again. You’ve been a temp for years now. You do a great job and no one complains. Every few months the boss extends your position but refuses to make your job permanent. This has happened 22 times over five years, and you have been in constant limbo and […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog] To the question of whether or not this is the same old debate, the answer is yes. The purpose of running a national passenger rail system isn’t to enrich Wall Street and wealthy investors by handing them one of the nation’s most prized and […]

[As posted on The Hill’s Congress Blog] With all the challenges facing our aviation system, we’re also having to worry about in-flight fires due to poorly regulated lithium battery transport. Why? Because some members of the House of Representatives want to put profits before safety by blocking needed in-flight battery safety rules as part of […]

[As posted on FireDogLake] When the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the states that had applied for high speed rail grants last month – made available after Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected the funds – I was surprised to see Wisconsin on the list.  A bad joke?  No, five months after sending $810 million in […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog] It is ironic that the Republican Study Committee’s proposal to slash vital transportation investments was unveiled on the very day that we learned that Americans spend as many as 70 hours – or nearly 3 solid days – a year stuck in traffic. The […]

As posted on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog Politics and demagoguery keep trumping job creation. The latest episode has the newly elected chief executives of Ohio and Wisconsin sending jobs out of their states to score political points while so many of their constituents continue to suffer in a chronic state of joblessness. With November’s […]

As posted on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog With the upcoming departure of Jim Oberstar, Congress – and I dare say – the nation is losing a national treasure, a leader whose resume is trumped only by his character, resiliency and incredible commitment to service. Among many giants in the Congress, Jim Oberstar is the […]

As posted on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog At the President’s Columbus Day meeting, I was proud to be at a White House that wants to transform the way we think about and invest in transportation. President Obama is thinking big, and his commitment to expanding and rebuilding America’s transportation network is going to be […]

by Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO   Last week, I was proud to be at a White House that wants to dramatically increase investments in our transportation systems and sees them as a solution to an economy still stuck in neutral. In the meeting he hosted, President Obama articulated his commitment […]