The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the President of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secretary is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States,and is fourteenth in the presidential line of succession.
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates,to eliminate rate discrimination,and to regulate other aspects of common carriers,including interstate bus lines and telephone companies. Congress expanded ICC authority to regulate other modes of commerce beginning in 1906. Throughout the 20th century,several of ICC's authorities were transferred to other federal agencies. The ICC was abolished in 1995,and its remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board.
The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan,Ohio,Indiana,and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo;Toledo;and Chicago. The company was named after Jacques Marquette,a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement,Sault Ste Marie.
The Detroit,Toledo and Ironton Railroad operated from 1905 to 1983 between its namesake cities of Detroit,Michigan,and Ironton,Ohio,via Toledo. At the end of 1970,it operated 478 miles of road on 762 miles of track;that year it carried 1,244 million ton-miles of revenue freight.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway,later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan,Illinois,Indiana,and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971,the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company,the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron,Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.
The Ann Arbor Railroad was an American railroad that operated between Toledo,Ohio,and Elberta and Frankfort,Michigan with train ferry operations across Lake Michigan. In 1967 it reported 572 million net ton-miles of revenue freight,including 107 million in "lake transfer service";that total does not include the 39-mile subsidiary Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad.
Michigan Services are three Amtrak passenger rail routes connecting Chicago,Illinois with the Michigan cities of Grand Rapids,Port Huron,and Detroit,and stations en route. The group falls under the Amtrak Midwest brand and is a component of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail safety regulations,administer railroad assistance programs,conduct research and development in support of improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy,provide for the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service,and consolidate government support of rail transportation activities.
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.
The Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
The Wolverine is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 304-mile (489 km) line provides three daily round-trips between Chicago and Pontiac,Michigan,via Ann Arbor and Detroit. It carries a heritage train name descended from the New York Central.
Railroads have been vital in the history of the population and trade of rough and finished goods in the state of Michigan. While some coastal settlements had previously existed,the population,commercial,and industrial growth of the state further bloomed with the establishment of the railroad.
The Indiana Northeastern Railroad is a Class III short line freight railroad operating on nearly 130 miles (210 km) in southern lower Michigan,northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. The Indiana Northeastern Railroad Company began operations in December 1992 and is an independent privately owned company. As of 2017 the railroad hauled more than 7,000 carloads per year. Commodities moved by the railroad include corn,soybeans,wheat and flour. It also handles plastics,fiberboard,aluminum,copper,coal,perlite,stone,lumber,glass,rendering products,as well as agricultural fertilizers and chemicals.
Joseph Houston Boardman was an American transportation executive.
John W. Ingram was the President of the Chicago,Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in its final years,from 1974 to 1979.
Joseph C. Szabo is a former government official who was the twelfth Federal Railroad Administrator of the United States. Nominated by President Barack Obama on March 20,2009,he was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 29,2009. Safety was the top priority of his administration. He stepped down from the position on January 9,2015 and Sarah Feinberg became the Acting Administrator on January 12,2015,and subsequently the permanent Administrator.
Transportation in metropolitan Detroit comprises an expansive system of roadways,multiple public transit systems,a major international airport,freight railroads,and ports. Located on the Detroit River along the Great Lakes Waterway,Detroit is a significant city in international trade,with two land crossings to Canada. Three primary Interstate highways serve the region.
Paul Mitchell III was an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 10th congressional district from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party for most of his Congressional tenure,he left the party in December 2020,three weeks prior to his departure from Congress,and became an independent. In July 2019,Mitchell announced that he would not run for re-election in 2020 to spend more time with his family.
Pedestrian railroad safety is concerned with the protection of life through regulation,management and technology development of all forms of rail transportation. In the United States there are some 180,000 miles of track. Pedestrian railroad accidents are the leading cause of death on railways. More than 7,200 pedestrians have been killed by trains in the United States since 1997.
