Amtrak: Record Breaking Thanksgiving Ridership
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:02 PM PST
It is well known that Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, but an Amtrak press release has revealed that this Thanksgiving may have been one of the busiest ever. Amtrak’s preliminary ridership numbers indicated that 720,000 people traveled on Amtrak trains this holiday. When compared to the 2010 Thanksgiving travel week, this year’s passenger numbers mark a 2.2% increase. Luckily, Amtrak was well prepared for the serge in passengers and operated every passenger rail car in its fleet, in addition to additional services. Amtrak’s Vice President of Marketing connects the record breaking numbers to a variety of factors, saying that, “While retailers are reporting sales are up at stores and on the internet, travel on Amtrak also exceeded expectations due, in part, to increased capacity and the recent introduction of free Wi-Fi service on several Amtrak routes.”
The fact that 720,000 passengers were able to travel safely to spend time with their families is great news in itself and record breaking ridership totals can be considered an added bonus. Although this Thanksgiving week was one of the busiest in Amtrak’s history, proper preparation allowed for relatively smooth travels. Amtrak’s Thanksgiving ridership numbers mirror the trend that passenger rail has been taking recently. Every year ridership numbers are increasing and projections show more increases in the future.
Federal Funding Granted For Honolulu Rail Transit Project
Posted: 29 Nov 2011 05:21 PM PST
The Honolulu Rail Transit Project has been approved to receive a share of the $510 million federal fund allocation for Hawaii, according to the statement by Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka announced on Tuesday. After a passing vote in Senate of 70 to 30, President Barack Obama recently signed the Conference Report, which grants funding for several projects in Hawaii in the next fiscal year.
The specific amount going toward rail construction is yet to be determined, but the rail project anticipates a $125 million share of funding to complete construction. An additional $13 million is currently set aside for Native Hawaiian housing and $386,000 for the Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Fund. The measure will also allocate funds for marine mammal and sea turtle protection, youth programs, and other social improvements.
In addition to the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, federal funding will also go to smaller scale rail transit projects in cities other than Honolulu. Hawaiian officials are encouraged by the federal support of these rail projects. Federal funding will allow the cities to offer green options of transportation, and the new construction projects will create employment for residents as well. The project must advance to a certain point, however, before it is able to actually receive funding. If the project does not reach that designated stage before December 31, 2012, then the offer will expire. Senator Daniel Inouye expressed this sense of urgency in a statement, saying, “We have planned this project and debated its merits for decades, and we must move forward. We must set aside our differences and work together.”
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