The United States Department of Transportation is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
The Chicago Hub Network is a collection of proposed fast conventional and high-speed rail lines in the Midwestern United States including 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of track. Since the 1990s, there have been multiple proposals to build a network from Chicago to destinations such as Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Louisville. In addition, the rail lines from the Chicago hub would connect through to cities in Canada. Eastern routes from Chicago would also blend into the Ohio Hub network. In addition to providing better connections between Midwestern cities, the projects are intended to reduce or eliminate the operating subsidies that American passenger train routes currently require.
The Southeast Corridor (SEC) is a proposed passenger rail transportation project in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States to extend high-speed passenger rail services from the current southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor in Washington, D.C.. Routes would extend south via Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, with a spur to Norfolk in Virginia's Hampton Roads region; the mainline would continue south to Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the corridor was first established in 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has extended it further to Atlanta, Georgia and Macon, Georgia; Greenville, South Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT. Headed by an Administrator who is appointed by the President of the United States, the FTA functions through Washington, D.C headquarters office and ten regional offices which assist transit agencies in all states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. Until 1991, it was known as the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA).
A Pell Grant is a subsidy the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with exceptional financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree, or who are enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating institutions. Originally known as a Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, it was renamed in 1980 in honor of Democratic U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island. A Pell Grant is generally considered the foundation of a student's financial aid package, to which other forms of aid are added. The Federal Pell Grant program is administered by the United States Department of Education, which determines the student's financial need and through it, the student's Pell eligibility. The U.S. Department of Education uses a standard formula to evaluate financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for determining the student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
Plans for high-speed rail in the United States date back to the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. Various state and federal proposals have followed. Despite being one of the world's first countries to get high-speed trains, it failed to spread. Definitions of what constitutes high-speed rail vary, including a range of speeds over 110 mph (180 km/h) and dedicated rail lines. Inter-city rail with top speeds between 90 and 125 mph is sometimes referred to in the United States as higher-speed rail.
Front Range Passenger Rail is a proposed inter-city passenger train service along the Front Range and broader I-25 corridors in Colorado and Wyoming. Most proposals envision a route from Pueblo north to Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. Extensions north to Cheyenne and south to Trinidad, Albuquerque, and even El Paso have been discussed.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of the Massachusetts General Court upon enactment of the 2009 Transportation Reform Act.
The Hartford Line is a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, using the Amtrak-owned New Haven–Springfield Line. The project is a joint venture between the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, with support from the federal government as well. CT Rail-branded trains provide service along the corridor, and riders can use Hartford Line tickets to travel on board most Amtrak trains along the corridor at the same prices. The service launched on June 16, 2018.
The Ohio Hub was a high-speed railway project proposed in the 2000s decade by the Ohio Department of Transportation aimed at revitalizing passenger rail service in the Ohio region. The plan was awarded funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but Governor John Kasich refused to use the funds for the project and the funds were reclaimed by the federal government. Passage of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act raised the possibility of new funding for a similar project.
National Gateway is a multi-stage railroad construction project in the United States promoted by CSX Transportation, a unit of CSX Corporation. It is designed to improve rail connections between ports in the U.S. mid-Atlantic seaboard and the Midwest by upgrading bridges and tunnels to allow taller freight trains. In 2008 the company announced its plans to invest $300 million, and is seeking investment from state governments and the U.S. federal government of an additional $400 million as a public-private partnership. Phase 1 of the $850 million project, between CSX's existing terminal in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and its hub facility in Northwest Ohio. was completed in September 2013.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Great Recession, the primary objective of this federal statute was to save existing jobs and create new ones as soon as possible. Other objectives were to provide temporary relief programs for those most affected by the recession and invest in infrastructure, education, health, and renewable energy.
ARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy is a United States government agency tasked with promoting and funding research and development of advanced energy technologies. It is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
South Coast Rail is a project to build a new southern line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The line has been planned to restore passenger rail service between Boston and the cities of Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, via the towns of Berkley, and Freetown, on the south coast of Massachusetts. It would restore passenger service to some of the southern lines of the former Old Colony Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
The United States Marine Highway Program is a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative authorized to increase use of the United States' 29,000 mi (47,000 km) of navigable waterways to alleviate traffic and wear to the nation's highways caused by tractor trailer traffic. The program is managed by the Maritime Administration's Office of Ports & Waterways Planning.
Husein Aftab Cumber is the chief strategy officer for Florida East Coast Industries, LLC. (FECI). FECI is one of Florida's largest commercial real estate, transportation and infrastructure companies.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority was established in 1996 after decades of advocacy for building a high speed rail system in California. The passage of Proposition 1A in 2008, followed by the awarding of federal stimulus funds in 2010, established the initial funding for the California High-Speed Rail system. Construction contracts began to be awarded in 2013, and the groundbreaking ceremony for initial construction was held on January 6, 2015.
The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 is a law that reauthorized Amtrak and authorized the United States Department of Transportation to provide grants for operating costs and capital expenses and to repay Amtrak's long-term debt and capital leases. It required Amtrak to adopt cost and performance metrics with regard to its intercity trains and established the Northeast Corridor Commission to govern Amtrak’s shared services along the Northeast Corridor.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), most commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL),, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. It was originally introduced in the House as the INVEST in America Act, and was commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill before it was signed into law.
New Orleans–Baton Rouge passenger rail is a proposed inter-city passenger train service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge along the I-10 corridor in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The route would connect the state's largest city to its second-largest city and state capital with trains as fast as 90 mph (140 km/h).
