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The price of environmentalism has always concerned conservatives, but now even New Jersey Democrats are getting upset about the costs on taxpayers under the guise of helping curb emissions. Federal transportation officials have green lighted New York's plan to charge escalating congestion tolls for drivers entering parts of Manhattan and New Jersey Democrats are "outraged," Politico reported. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., expressed their disappointment the Federal Highway Administration has allowed the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's congestion pricing to go forward without more review and environmental studies. The MTA is considering...

Philadelphia has banned masks on its Center City SEPTA public transportation system in the hope of curtailing gun violence incidents. CBS News reported an individual in a mask shot and killed a high school student on a SEPTA bus last week and on Memorial Day, another gunman in a mask shot a 19-year-old on a bus. The 19-year-old survived his injuries. SEPTA police chief Charles Lawson announced masks will no longer be allowed, saying, “Those face masks are prohibited on SEPTA property. You come on SEPTA property wearing your shiesty, you will be engaged by police. … You got two...

Ann Carlson's 'attacks on American energy reek of hypocrisy' in light of fossil fuel investment, said Sen. Ted Cruz ... Biden's pick for a top Department of Transportation (DOT) post quietly disclosed a significant stake in an oil and gas development firm despite her past climate activism. Ann Carlson — an environmental law expert whom Biden nominated in February to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owns a financial stake ... Carlson, who was first appointed in early 2021 to oversee climate standards for cars and trucks at NHTSA as the agency's chief counsel, has for years...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle. A 35-year-old grocery store worker from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Holdsworth would probably be in the market for a vehicle within a few years — if not for the high cost. For now, it’s out of the question. “You’re not going to get one for a price you can afford,” he said....

* Chinese version of Elon Musk's vision could travel up to 1,000km/h, top engineers say. * Several major cities were considered for mega project, expected to be operational by 2035. China is likely to build its first hyperloop train line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, according to the nation's top engineering and rail design institutes. The 150km-long (93-mile) in-vacuum tunnel will allow maglev trains to travel at speeds of up to 1,000km/h (621mph). The Chinese Academy of Engineering and rail authorities commissioned a "comprehensive assessment on the candidate construction sites for ultra-high speed pipeline maglev system demonstration line", and the two...

Pete Buttigieg, our Transportation Secretary, hates roads.He has a point, though: roads are racist. They hate Black and Indigenous people. They hate Black people so much that they kill them at higher rates than White people.I think Ku Klux Krashsites would have worked better but alas, no edit button. 😢— Gordon "Soros-Backed" Kushner (@Gordon_Kushner) April 17, 2023Racism. Is there nothing it can’t do?Some wag on Twitter noted that the rambling discourse from Mayor Pete was so absurd that even Al Sharpton appeared not to buy it.Perhaps, but Sharpton always looks sour and I won’t pretend to be able to read...

Burlington Northern Santa Fe says 22 cars from train have come off the tracks in Raymond ... A Minnesota town outside of Minneapolis has been ordered to evacuate Thursday morning after a train carrying "a form of ethanol" and "a corn syrup liquid" derailed and caught on fire, police say. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway told FOX Business that its train came off the tracks near Raymond around 1 a.m. ... Fire departments from Raymond and numerous area departments responded as several of the derailed tankers started on fire and were determined to be carrying a form of ethanol...

Both the EVG railway union and the huge Verdi services union are combining forces to push for increased pay for their memberships amid persistent inflation. Verdi last week said the union was calling for 120,000 workers — including security and ground workers at all German airports except in Berlin — to walk out. Almost all major airports are on strike, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart. The German airport association ADV warned that as many as 380,000 airline travelers would not be able to take their flights because of the planned strikes. The EVG union is calling for 230,000 workers...

The owner of a Rivian R1S electric SUV was overjoyed to have his dream electric vehicle after waiting for years. But after owning the car for just days, it got stuck in the snow and immobilized by a safety feature, leading to a $2,100 bill to transport it to a repair facility. Business Insider reports that a recent incident involving an owner of a Rivian R1S has forced the maker of the electric vehicles to examine its customer service more carefully and think about making changes to improve the user experience. The owner of an R1S truck, Chase Merrill, encountered...

In 2017, automakers were scrambling to develop cars that could drive themselves. Ford Motor bet a billion dollars on a startup called Argo AI to catch up to flashy tech companies like Google, Uber and Tesla. Volkswagen, the second-largest automaker in the world, signed on as a backer in 2019, investing $2.6 billion Argo AI at a valuation of more than $7 billion. By 2021, Argo AI was valued at $12.4 billion and counted 2,000 employees, with offices on two continents and self-driving tests underway in seven cities. There were plans to bring a self-driving taxi service to market by...

Smaller trucking businesses are feeling financial pressure after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new standards for semi-trucks to lower air pollution. Andrew John of the John N John Trucking Company warned that the costs associated with the new standards could kill many mom-and-pop trucking businesses. ... They go out of business, and we all know how important mall businesses are to the economy." For the first time in two decades, the EPA released new standards that are 80% stronger than current ones and require semi-trucks to cut harmful nitrogen oxide pollution. ... The EPA estimates the new requirements could...

The aftermath of the pandemic-era tech boom has taken another San Francisco victim. Autonomous trucking software company Embark Trucks is laying off 230 workers and moving toward a total shutdown, the firm announced Friday, less than 16 months after it went public at a $5.2 billion valuation. Friday’s layoff round represented about 70% of the company, according to an email to employees from CEO Alex Rodrigues. Workers will receive severance pay through June 2, health benefits through the end of August and help figuring out visas, if needed, Rodrigues said. Embark is also shuttering offices in southern California and Houston....

Who would have thought the mediocre mayor of Indiana’s fourth-largest city would not be a good choice to run the Department of Transportation?' What happened: Enemy of Freedom™ Pete Buttigieg launched a failed campaign for president of the United States at the age of 37 after serving two terms as mayor of South Bend, the fourth-largest city in Indiana. He was adored by journalists and other out-of-touch white Democrats due to his youthful nerdy gayness and Obama-esque ability to regurgitate platitudes.

Amid growing criticism for the Biden administration — and specifically Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — over the federal response (or lack thereof) to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that released toxic chemicals into the air and water, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is calling for change at the top. In a letter to President Joe Biden, Rubio calls on the chief executive to "request the immediate resignation of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Buttigieg" for what Rubio describes as a "gross level of incompetence and apathy that is detrimental to the safety and prosperity of the American...

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio -- Local officials in East Palestine, Ohio, have ordered roughly 2,000 residents, about half the town's population, to evacuate their homes after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and caught fire. Gov. Mike DeWine urged all residents living within a mile of the derailment to evacuate "immediately" Sunday night, "due to the potential of a major explosion."

Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott, a new member on the House Intelligence Committee, hopes the panel will investigate efforts by unfriendly foreign powers to insert themselves into U.S. food and technology supply chains. "One of the things that I expect us to look into, and hopefully look into, is where our adversaries have embedded themselves in the supply chain of basic necessities for Americans," Scott said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "I talk about food a lot, because it's one of the things that we have to have to get through the day," Scott explained. "What are our adversaries...

San Diego County’s Regional Transportation Agency’s (SANDAG) latest transportation plan is designed to make driving so expensive that you succumb to public transportation. In addition to the current gas tax and registration fees, SANDAG’s plan adds three new half-cent sales tax increases, over 800 miles of San Diego County freeway lanes converted to toll lanes, and a mileage tax for every mile driven to pay for their $165 billion public mass transit plan. SANDAG’s new plan refuses to build the road improvements promised in their last plan but will continue to tax us until 2048 to pay for them. SANDAG’s...

United Airlines’ CEO said airlines are selling seats for flights they can’t staff — but Buttigieg hasn’t acted on state officials’ demand that he crack down. The recent holiday travel meltdown wasn’t a fluke or a one-off — cancellations will continue because airlines routinely sell tickets for flights they know they may not be able to staff and operate, the chief executive of United Airlines told investors yesterday. The stunning admission from the highest reaches of the airline industry confirms a warning sent by state attorneys general to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg prior to the December travel meltdown. However, Buttigieg...

Following yet another failure of government control of transportation -- the FAA system debacle -- Pete Buttigieg has been soundly thrashed again for his incompetence. The FAA failure is only one of many fiascos over the past year laid at the feet of the erstwhile secretary of Transportation. Recall when he and his “husband” were on paternity leave for nearly two months while the maritime shipping supply chain crisis was going on last fall. Next, he was AWOL during the railroad strike negotiations and really played no role in brokering a deal. As a matter of fact, he was on...

The White House said Wednesday that President Joe Biden stands by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg just hours after a Federal Aviation Administration computer system crashed and created havoc for air travelers. “He respects the Secretary in the work that he has been doing. You have seen the secretary on TV,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during the daily briefing when asked why the president supported him.