Portland MAX Red Line extension gets $99.9M fed boost
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded a $99.9 million construction grant to the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) for its 7.8-mile MAX Red Line extension project in the Portland metro area. The grant is provided through FTA’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program. Dubbed “A Better Red,” the TriMet project, whose design was completed earlier this year, has a total cost of $215 million. The price tag also includes four new Siemens light rail vehicles to accommodate additional service. [railwayage.com]
Virginia launches Amtrak service from Richmond to DC and New York
Virginia is launching the Amtrak Northeast Regional Route 51, a thrice daily service from downtown Richmond to Washington D.C. and New York. The service begins at Main Street Station in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom neighborhood and has stops at multiple destinations in the Northeast corridor and has three daily departures, two in the morning and one in the evening. The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority supports four Northeast Regional routes that originate in Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond and Roanoke. [virginiabusiness.com]
Japanese train operator scraps facial recognition plan
In light of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, major train company JR East upped their security game by installing facial recognition cameras at stations in an attempt to curb possible terrorism attacks. Using their database of images collected from JR East station surveillance cameras, the facial recognition cameras identify three groups of people: the first being persons that were previously imprisoned for committing serious crimes against JR East or JR East passengers, the second being named criminal suspects, and the third being suspicious persons. But not anymore. [soranews24.com]
Cable car gripman leaves heart in San Francisco
San Francisco saw many beloved institutions shutter during the pandemic, but one of the saddest losses came Friday as Byron Cobb worked his final shift as a cable car gripman after almost 40 years on the job. Anyone who rode the cable cars knew Cobb. He sported a huge grin, showed up right on time, bantered with passengers, and seemed to shout hello to every person on California Street. Then, there’s his famed bell ringing. He won the city’s cable car bell-ringing contest eight times and remains its reigning champion. But now, the Mayor of California Street is leaving office. [masstransitmag.com]
