Westbound NJT North Jersey Coast Line train 3231—nine MultiLevels hauled by an ALP46 electric—crosses the Navesink River Bridge. Along the line is the Long Branch Station, where a USDOT Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program award will help remove an at-grade rail crossing and construct a pedestrian tunnel. (William C. Vantuono Photograph)

USDOT Debuts Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Feb. 28 reported that its new Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant Program will distribute $185 million to 45 projects; this includes six capital construction grants (with one rail-related project) and 39 planning grants (with nine rail-related projects).

The USDOT selected five National, nine Regional and 20 Tier One UTCs (depicted on map) for research funding that “will help the next generation of transportation professionals make our roads, bridges, rail, shipping, and airspace safer, more innovative, and more efficient.”

USDOT Funds ‘Innovative, Resilient, Equitable’ Transportation Research

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Feb. 21 reported distributing up to $435 million in grant awards to 34 University Transportation Centers (UTU), which conduct research that supports the “safe, efficient, and environmentally sound movement of goods and people.”

Brightline on Feb. 11 reported via Twitter: “History in the making as Bright Orange 2 rolled out of the Siemens Rolling Stock facility in Sacramento - destination Florida!”

Transit Briefs: Brightline, CHSRA, USDOT OIG

A new Siemens Mobility trainset is heading to Brightline, Florida’s private-sector passenger railroad. Also, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is passed over for Multimodal Project Disciplinary Grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT); and a recent audit finds that USDOT oversight of Seattle’s transportation-funds management is insufficient.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Dr. Robert C. Hampshire

USDOT: $1.7MM for SBIR Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Feb. 7 announced that it is now accepting proposals for funding ranging from $150,000 to $200,000 from its Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) to “spur research and commercialization of innovative transportation technologies in select research areas,” including the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Previous Partnership Program grants from the FRA have funded rehabilitation-type projects such as the Kalamazoo to Dearborn rail corridor in Michigan and the Piedmont Corridor in North Carolina.

FRA Boosts Funding, Extends Deadline for Partnership Program NOFO

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Feb. 3 issued an extension and supplemental funding notice for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program (Partnership Program) for projects not located on the Northeast Corridor. The total funding now available has nearly doubled.

Report: VA Tech Researchers Harness Energy From Moving Trains Into Usable Electricity

Researchers at the Virginia Tech Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety (CVeSS) and the Railway Technologies Laboratory have created a new kind of crosstie that replaces the conventional wooden variety and is equipped to generate power from moving trains, transforming that energy into usable electricity, according to a report by The Roanoke Star.

ASLRRA: Navigating the Grant Process

New U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) tools, including RAISE webinars, are now available to help organizations navigate the grant process for railroad projects, according to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).

Released: USDOT’s Five-Year RD&T Strategic Plan

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has issued a strategic plan to guide transportation research, development and technology deployment activities over the next five years.

Biden Administration Releases U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization

The Biden Administration has released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, “a landmark interagency framework of strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportations sector by 2050,” the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Jan. 10.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Dec. 29 announced that construction work on the Hudson River rail tunnel project connecting Penn Station New York and New Jersey will commence “in the coming months on the Manhattan side,” according to the New York Daily News. (Amtrak Photo)

Transit Briefs: Gateway, LIRR, SMART

Construction on the Hudson River rail tunnels, part of the Gateway Program in New York and New Jersey, will advance with a $292 million Mega grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Also, MTA Long Island Rail Road’s Grand Central Madison will not open by the end of the year, as planned; and California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) will receive $1.8 million in Community Project Funding under the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23.

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