Recent investigations have revealed that many rail companies systematically neglect crucial maintenance and push back against regulations that would mandate more rigorous safety checks and infrastructure investments. (Photo: Thomas WInz/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

As ambitious rail projects like Brightline West push forward, Nevada stands at a critical crossroads in terms of infrastructure growth and rail safety. It’s been a year since Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed Assembly Bill 456—a bill that aimed to strengthen rail safety protocols—and the risks that haunt our tracks are not just lingering; they are intensifying. In a state known for its high stakes, gambling with rail safety seems a perilous bet we continue to make.

In addition to Amtrak trains already operating through our state, the Brightline West project will transport the most precious cargo carried by rail: people. With this fact in mind, we simply cannot continue to gamble with rail safety—the stakes are too high.

AB 456 was designed as a comprehensive response to the escalating dangers in our rail systems, featuring crucial measures like train length limitations, improved defect detection, and provisions to clear blocked crossings. These are not mere regulatory tweaks; they are lifesaving necessities, underscored by a series of derailments in and around Nevada. Each incident serves as a grim reminder of what is at stake: fiery derailments and blocked crossings that jeopardize lives and fracture communities.

Recent investigative reports, including those by ProPublica, have highlighted a national crisis in rail safety, detailing systemic failures that lead to catastrophic accidents. These investigations have revealed that many rail companies systematically neglect crucial maintenance and push back against regulations that would mandate more rigorous safety checks and infrastructure investments.

In Nevada, the situation is dire. U.S. Congressman Mark Amodei, echoing the frustrations of many Nevadans, has criticized Union Pacific for its abysmal communication and negligence, particularly around the issue of blocked crossings. These blocked crossings are not just inconvenient; they are dangerous, preventing emergency responders from reaching crises swiftly, which could be the difference between life and death.

Furthermore, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently had to suspend its safety assessment of Union Pacific—one of the nation’s largest railroads—after uncovering that the company coached employees on how to respond to safety interviews. This coaching was widespread across Union Pacific’s 23-state network, which includes Nevada, severely undermining the authenticity of safety culture assessments. Such deceit not only skews the data that regulators rely on to assess and enhance safety but also indicates a deep-rooted culture of complacency and manipulation underpinning corporate operations.

As railroads continue to boast of rising profits amidst declining revenues—the unsustainability of this is a topic for another discussion—their repeated appearances in the halls of Nevada’s government expressing cries that they cannot afford to invest more in safety are both intolerable and unacceptable.

The pervasive influence of rail lobbyists is a significant barrier to safety improvements. Their sway in stifling regulation is powerful, as evidenced by the stalled reforms even after high-profile derailments that have captured national attention. The lobbyists’ efforts ensure that profits continue to override public safety, keeping essential safety measures like AB 456 from becoming law.

As we observe the somber anniversary of AB 456’s veto, it’s crucial that we confront the reality of our legislative landscape. Nevada must not only reinstate measures proposed in AB 456 but also champion new initiatives that place safety at the forefront of rail operations. Our state should lead by example, showing that despite its reputation for gaming, it does not gamble with the safety of its citizens.

Looking ahead, particularly with the Brightline West project, Nevada has a unique opportunity to redefine rail safety standards. We must implement a proactive approach to safety, not just for Nevada but as a model for the nation. This means extensive oversight, transparent operations, and a legislative backbone strong enough to stand up to corporate pressure.

As the tracks of progress are laid down, let’s ensure they are not only fast and efficient but also safe and secure. Nevada has the chance now to place a winning bet on the lives and safety of our residents. It’s time for a shift in priorities—from corporate profits to public safety—and for Nevada to establish itself as a leader in rail safety innovation.

The post Rolling the dice on rail safety: Nevada’s high-stakes legislative gamble appeared first on Nevada Current.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Nevada officials at this week's groundbreaking ceremony for somethat that at least is more productive than a baseball field. (Photo: Sen Jacky Rosen's office)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Both of the state’s U.S. Senators, three-fourths of Nevada’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, your governor, and several lesser mortals lined up together to get their pictures taken Monday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a high-speed train.

Scheduled to begin operating in 2028, the Brightline train is designed to carry people to Las Vegas from a parking lot in Rancho Cucamonga and safely carry them back again, preferably after they have spent a little more money than they had expected to but not so much more that they won’t come back to Las Vegas. 

The train will hopefully alleviate Friday/Sunday traffic congestion on I-15, and also mean fewer automobile emissions.

But the most important thing about the train might not be what it means for Southern Nevada, Southern California, and the whole lot of not very much in between, but its role as a demonstration project for the nation.

“This is just the start,” the aforementioned former mayor of South Bend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, said at the groundbreaking. “I am firmly convinced that once the first customer buys that first ticket – to ride true high-speed rail on American soil, there will be no going back. People will demand and expect this everywhere and leaders will respond, and more high-speed rail lines are coming.”

Ray LaHood, who was Transportation secretary in the Obama years, also views the train from Rancho Cucamonga, in conjunction with California’s high speed rail program, as steps showing that the U.S., too, can have high-speed rail, just like a normal grown-up country.

If it spends on it.

“It’s time for the federal government to step up and provide much more funding — resources needed to bring two or three high-speed rail lines into service that can demonstrate this transformative technology to the American people,” Lahood recently wrote.

Like construction of its transcontinental ancestor in the 1860s, high-speed rail will not happen without federal spending. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Brightline is getting $3.5 billion in federally authorized private activity bonds – cheap financing – and the Nevada Department of Transportation got a $3 billion grant (the train tracks will be in the I-15 median).

And yes, it was in fact just earlier this month that Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo sent a letter to Joe Biden, telling the president he “must halt excessive federal spending.”

Mere days later, there Lombardo was, gripping and grinning at the Brightline groundbreaking ceremony. Evidently federal spending is okay if it happens in his state – and benefits the state’s most powerful industry.

High-speed more of the same?

Since the El Rancho opened on what was then Highway 91 in 1941, Southern California has been the biggest feeder market for the Las Vegas resort industry. Those who stand to benefit most from the train are those who were always the intended beneficiaries of every one of the multiple California-to-Las Vegas rail projects that have been on the drawing board over the decades, Nevada resort corporations and their shareholders.

Biden likes to say his policies are designed to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up. And much of his economic agenda – empowering workers, investing in public programs and services, reviving a long-neglected fight against corporate consolidation and trusts – are examples of that. 

Biden has also done more than any president to shift the country, and the world, away from the conviction, so firmly established in the Reagan-Thatcher era, that government’s top priority is to help big business.

But the faith that everybody else will be helped by helping business is still rooted in portions of Biden administration economic policy, namely its commitment to making targeted public investments to attract private investment. 

Hence $6.5 billion in federal financing assistance and grants for the train from Rancho Cucamonga.

With a projected 10,000 workers employed to construct the high-speed rail line, and an estimated 1,000 permanent full-time employees once the train is running, the project’s direct impact on a 1.1 million strong Southern Nevada workforce is miniscule.

But the train’s economic impact in Nevada, like Southern Nevada’s economy, is predominantly tourism-based. The train, and its immediate purpose, is in keeping with something that Las Vegas is very good at: Attracting tourists and their money.

Which presents the prospect of even more of something that Las Vegas is very, very bad at: Distributing fair portions of that money to the working Nevadans who make everything else possible.

For as many years as Nevada politicians and industrialists have worked to get rail service from California, they have failed to address or often even acknowledge Nevada’s systemic barriers, skimpy public services, and economic inequities that make life harder for working households than it needs to be.

And for as many years as Nevada politicians and the industries for which they stand have preached about the importance of workforce development, they have neglected the general welfare and development of the workforce Nevada already has.

The football and baseball fields, the car race, the routine tax breaks for businesses that don’t need tax breaks – all come with promises that the money they generate will flow through the economy and benefit everyone.

Yet wage growth in Nevada is among the nation’s lowest and slowest, and has been for most of the current century. 

A new train isn’t going to fix that.

Multiple public services that would buttress and support the workforce  – including but certainly not limited to public transit – have never been backed by Nevada policymakers with anywhere near the enthusiasm – and juice – that was tapped for, say, a football field, or a battery plant.

The resort industry gets a multi-billion-dollar high-speed train to deposit customers at its doors. The people who work behind those doors get a couple new dedicated bus lanes on Maryland Parkway.

There are a lot of reasons to like a high-speed train, especially in a country that doesn’t do high-speed trains. But it isn’t, to borrow a phrase beloved by economic development evangelists everywhere, a “game changer” for the local economy or the people who work in it.

The U.S. is woefully behind other nations in the development of high-speed rail. Efforts to redress that grievance have to start somewhere. And Rancho Cucamonga is … somewhere.

So good luck, train?

And however negligible its impact on the lives and well-being of the Southern Nevada working class, if a high-speed rail demonstration project helps kick-start development of more high-speed rail in the U.S., that would be orders of magnitude more meaningful, productive and useful than, say, a publicly subsidized baseball field.

Of course, far more meaningful than both of them put together would be a metro area rapid mass transit system.

The post Cool. Now do transit for people who live here. appeared first on Nevada Current.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a partnership that will streamline airline consumer complaints on April 16, 2024 at Denver International Airport. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general aims to streamline efforts to resolve airline consumer complaints.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the program at Denver International Airport Tuesday. The program comes in response to the record numbers of airline customer complaints their offices are fielding.

“It’s very important for passengers to know that they’re getting a fair deal and for airlines to know that they will be held accountable if they don’t fulfill their end of the bargain,” Buttigieg said. “The support that’s being offered by the state attorney generals offices means that our capacity to protect airline passengers is expanded.”

Historically, the federal DOT has been solely responsible for resolving complaints and enforcing protections for airline consumers. Now, for the 25 states and territories that agreed to participate, their attorney general will take complaints and attempt to resolve them with the company and the consumer. If necessary, the attorney general will refer the complaint to the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.

“We’re going to hold accountable companies who are breaking the law and undermine travel experience and we’re going to make sure to send an important message: Consumers have rights, they deserve to be treated fairly,” Weiser said. “This enforcement is going to encourage and enable and reward responsible companies who follow the rules. That is the way it should be.”

The agreement between Colorado and the DOT will last for two years, and both parties will have the option to extend the agreement if necessary. Buttigieg said states have been receiving increased airline-related complaints, particularly following the pandemic, but prior to this agreement they weren’t able to help other than by directing consumers to the DOT.

Weiser said that prior to the agreement, if his office received complaints about an airline, it could only pass the complaint along to the DOT, and wouldn’t receive updates on whether the issues were resolved. Now his office will have a direct line of communication to make sure complaints from Colorado are properly handled.

Buttigieg said the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection has a team of about three dozen people who have to sort through tens of thousands of complaints. He said this partnership will help that team process complaints more quickly and efficiently.

“This partnership is new, but really it has roots in the responsibilities of the federal government to protect airline passengers that go back at least to the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, which was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt,” Buttigieg said. “After the deregulation that replaced that framework, it became even more important for us to be proactive with guardrails to make sure that people are treated fairly by airlines.”

Others that signed an agreement with the DOT include California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin. States that have expressed their intent to participate include Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

Buttigieg said he could see the program going nationwide, given that it already has bipartisan support and that there are airline consumers “who need that support in every state and territory.” Weiser said he would encourage other state attorneys general to participate as well.

This story was originally published in Colorado Newsline, which like Nevada Current, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

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Clark County voters approved indexing the gas tax to an inflation rate in 2016. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The future trajectory of revenue needed to maintain Southern Nevada roadways is “not a good one” as the potential expiration of a component of the gas tax could lead to funding shortfalls, Clark County Commissioners were told Tuesday.

M.J. Maynard, the CEO with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, gave commissioners an overview of how tax revenue from various sources has helped fund transit projects. 

But the fuel revenue index program, which allows the county to index gas taxes to the rate of inflation, is set to expire at the end of 2026. The RTC projected it could see a $156.3 million deficit starting in 2028.

Unlike sales taxes, which are a percentage of the purchase price, the gas tax is a set amount – 23 cents per gallon – whatever the price of gas. Under the fuel indexing, the tax has been allowed to increase in amounts related to the inflation rate of street and roadway construction costs.

State law allowed the county to increase the tax if approved by a majority of voters via a general election ballot measure. Clark County voters did so with nearly 60% of voters in 2016. The tax indexing could go back before voters in 2026. 

“The biggest takeaway is we have a structural problem with how we fund both roadways and transit,” Maynard said.

Maynard said Southern Nevada “wouldn’t be where we are today as far as infrastructure projects,” if the fuel revenue index hadn’t been approved. 

Assembly Bill 359, which was introduced during the 2023 legislative session, would have enabled Clark County, by a two-thirds majority of the county commission, to continue inflation-adjusted increases to the gas tax beyond the first day of 2027, when that authority is scheduled to expire under current law.

The bill passed with bipartisan support but was vetoed by Gov. Joe Lombardo. 

In his veto message, Lombardo wrote that while the “arguments in favor of fuel revenue indexing are compelling, a decision on this issue, which impacts household budgets every day, is most appropriately rendered by the voters.”

“The current, voter-authorized fuel revenue indexing does not expire until 2026, leaving sufficient time for further consideration of solutions that more equitably allocate responsibility for roadway improvements among all users,” he wrote. 

With the 2025 legislative session less than a year away, commissioners suggested state lawmakers once again pass legislation empowering the county to index the tax and ensure the RTC has a plan to address funding challenges. 

“Hopefully, we can all focus on making sure that he doesn’t veto it next time,” said Commissioner Tick Segerblom. “We cannot let transit die.”

In addition to maintaining the roadways, Maynard said revenue from the gas tax has gone to fund more than 250 transit projects. There are still more the commission hasn’t been able to complete because of lack of funds.   

“Your staff has forwarded to us a list of about $2 billion worth of projects that do not have identified funding,” Maynard told commissioners.  

The Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure law, passed in 2021 has allowed for some transportation projects to be funded. 

Those are usually projects that only need one-shot infusion of money rather than a sustainable funding source. 

Most recently, Las Vegas was awarded nearly $150 million in federal funding for the Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit project, a 13-mile bus route between the Harry Reid International Airport and the Las Vegas Medical District west of downtown.. 

“We can’t rely on federal funding for all that we do,” said Commissioner Justin Jones. “That project and every other project that we have been able to obtain federal funding for requires matches. We can’t make those matches unless we have long term dedicated funding sources for the transit side and the roadway funding side.”

The lack of stable funding source, Maynard said, has prevented the agency from going after more money allocated from the bipartisan infrastructure law. 

“We didn’t go after many grants because we didn’t have that long term sustainable match,” Maynard said.  “If we would have applied the answer would have been ‘no.’”

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RTC rendering of design for Maryland Parkway with combined bus/bike lanes.

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Las Vegas was awarded nearly $150 million in federal funding for a transportation project designed to create more efficient, frequent, and speedier bus transit between the Harry Reid International Airport  and the Las Vegas Medical District in the north.

The 13-mile Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit project represents the largest single transit investment the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has ever received from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and will provide nearly half of the $305 million needed for the project.

Construction of the project will start this year, before being completed by 2026, according to the RTC.

Democratic U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen announced the funding Friday, which was secured through the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“This grant will help RTC purchase cleaner buses, be more efficient, shorten wait times, and improve road safety for transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. I will keep working to strengthen our economy, revitalize our infrastructure, and keep Nevadans safe,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

Maryland Parkway is a vital corridor for the Las Vegas Valley and is home to 90,000 residents. The route (Bus Route 109) generates the eighth highest ridership of all existing bus routes in Southern Nevada, carrying about 9,000 transit riders daily. Additionally, about 32% of all households on the corridor don’t have access to a personal vehicle, according to the RTC.

The project will provide high-capacity transit service between major urban centers, including the Las Vegas Medical District, Downtown Las Vegas, Sunrise Hospital, Boulevard Mall, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the Harry Reid International Airport.

Nevada transit officials told the federal government they hope to operate the route 24-hours a day, seven days a week, with buses every 12 minutes during the day Monday through Saturday and every 15 minutes during the day on Sundays. At night, buses would operate every 15 to 30 minutes. 

Pedestrian safety on the corridor – which sees 35,000 vehicles daily – will also get a major boost. Funding for the project will finance 42 enhanced transit shelters, shared bus-bike lanes, widened sidewalks, upgraded pedestrian crossings, and improved lighting on the route.

If all goes as planned, officials say the project will help alleviate traffic congestion, improve air quality, support local land use policies, and encourage new economic vitality along the Maryland Parkway corridor. 

“We are incredibly appreciative to our federal delegation in helping us to secure this FTA grant that will help transform Maryland Parkway for the benefit of everyone in the region,” said RTC CEO M.J. Maynard in a statement. 

Both Cortez Masto and Rosen highlighted their work in the Senate to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“I’m proud to have helped secure $149 million for the Maryland Parkway transit project to increase the frequency and safety of public transit, purchase new clean energy powered buses, and create good-paying jobs,” Rosen said in a statement. 

Nevada’s Democratic House representatives also highlighted their part in helping Congress pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2022, which allocated billions of dollars to DOT’s Capital Investment Grants Program.

“The $150 million secured for improvements to the Maryland Parkway transit system will ensure Las Vegas residents have better options while traveling among Harry Reid International Airport, UNLV, and other important areas around the city. Buses, bikes, cars, and pedestrians will all experience safer conditions thanks to wider sidewalks, enhanced transit shelters, improved lighting, and better roadways,” said Rep. Dina Titus, who represents Nevada’s first Congressional District, where the project will be built.

“This is the type of direct investment our community needs to make everyday commutes shorter and safer for working families,” said Nevada’s third Congressional District Rep. Susie Lee.

The post NV gets $150M for enhanced public transit along Maryland Parkway corridor appeared first on Nevada Current.

Automated traffic enforcement has earned criticism for generating local government revenue by disproportionately ticketing disadvantaged communities. (Photo: Ronda Churchill/Nevada Current))

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Nevada Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety urged state lawmakers Wednesday to consider legislation authorizing the use of speeding and red light cameras.

Critics warned automated ticketing of motorists via photos singles out populations, and can become more of a revenue model for governments and system vendors than a solution to traffic safety. 

Lawmakers during Wednesday’s interim Growth and Infrastructure Committee meeting were briefed on the increased number of traffic deaths in recent years, in particular among pedestrians, and ways to reduce fatalities and safety issues.

The traffic safety committee recommended legislative changes to allow jurisdictions to consider using automated traffic enforcement, which allows for law enforcement to issue traffic tickets by using cameras to catch motorists who are speeding or running red lights.

Leisa Moseley-Sayles, the Nevada state director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, said there are limits that “support the claim that these cameras significantly enhance road safety.”

The use of the cameras, she said, leads to higher traffic citations that “throw more people into the criminal legal system and are known to exacerbate poverty, perpetuate racial disparities.”  

Both the traffic safety committee and the Fines and Fees Justice Center agree any policy should emphasize transparency and not become a tool for raising revenue from citations instead of a means of enhancing safety. 

Amy Davey, administrator of the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety within the Department of Public Safety, said enacting automated enforcement would be a stopgap and not intended to be “the end all be all.” 

“If you leave (cameras) there forever in one spot, people avoid that spot then you have a high crash area somewhere else because they are now taking a different route,” she said. “ It definitely shouldn’t become a prop for any type of revenue for local jurisdictions or state jurisdiction.”

Nevada state lawmakers banned the use of speed and red light cameras in 1999.

“It was a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate with two no votes and passed the Assembly unanimously,” said Nick Shepack, the Nevada deputy directory of the the Fines and Fees Justice Center. “Much of the same concerns we have today were discussed during those hearings when this bill passed.”

Nevada is among 22 states that don’t allow automated traffic enforcement, he said. 

Assembly Bill 93, a Growth and Infrastructure Committee bill introduced in the 2023 Legislative Session, proposed installing automated traffic cameras in school zones. The legislation didn’t receive a hearing.

Davey said there has been a “pretty steep increase in traffic fatalities,” in recent years, adding that in 2021 there were 385 traffic deaths, which jumped to 416 deaths in 2022. There were 91 pedestrian deaths in 2022, an increase from 84 the year prior. 

There is also an increase in people who have been hit by cars and survived, she added, with a large number of children being hit in school zones. 

“Clark County School District is reporting that 98 students have been struck this school year in school zones,” Davey said. “Washoe County is reporting that 64 school aged children have been struck in school zones this school year.”

Though past legislative attempts have failed, Andrew Bennett, the chair of the traffic safety committee, who also works at Clark County Office of Traffic Safety, said lawmakers should still consider eliminating the current Nevada law “that limits local and state agencies abilities to use road safety cameras.”

Other recommendations the traffic safety committee proposed included increasing fines in school zones or enacting a primary seat belt law, which allows law enforcement to stop drivers for not wearing a seat belt even if there aren’t other traffic violations. 

Discriminatory ‘revenue generators’

The use of automated traffic enforcement has earned criticism for disproportionately ticketing communities of color and disadvantaged populations.

Shepack said research in the District of Columbia showed drivers in “predominantly Black areas were over 17 times more likely to receive a violation.”

“We are also deeply concerned these cameras can too easily become revenue generators, because in reality they serve as significant sources of revenue for both the municipalities that employ them as well as the vendors that manufacture and install them,” Moseley-Sayles said. 

Data on automated enforcement, they added, doesn’t indicate a reduction in traffic and pedestrian deaths. 

If the answer is to eliminate or reduce traffic fatalities, “then the structure and function of Nevada’s streets and roads must be brought in line with the goal of infrastructure investments,” Moseley-Sayles said.

That could include investment  in other “traffic calming methods such as speed bumps, raised sidewalks and traffic circles,” she said.

“Having mechanisms in place that slow drivers down immediately, rather than delayed citation in the mail, it seems like that would be more effective,” she said.

If lawmakers were to move forward, Shepack said they should consider less punitive sanctions, such as warnings and driver safety classes on the first offense. Citations should also take into consideration people’s ability to pay.  

Lawmakers should also restrict vendors contracted to install traffic cameras from having any power to enforce or prosecute, he added. 

“This may seem like a no-brainer, but there are contracts that exist where terms of enforcement and right to prosecute individuals are given directly to private companies,” he said. 

While encouraging lawmakers to consider automated enforcement, Bennett, the traffic committee chair, told lawmakers that “it is vital to learn from the mistakes of others” that have used speeding and red light cameras.  

“The journey of automated traffic enforcement implementation in other communities has not been without fault,” he said. “By examining the pitfalls that others have encountered, we can navigate the implementation process more smoothly ensuring our approach is both effective and publicly acceptable.”

Shepack pointed to California as an example. The state passed legislation last year to implement a pilot program to allow certain jurisdictions with larger populations to set up speed cameras. 

The bill, he said, came with strict requirements, including only allowing for cameras to operate in school zones during hours children were present and mandating revenue collected from citations go toward “street calming infrastructure with the goal of removing cameras.”

There is also a mandatory review process and cameras must be removed if data doesn’t show a reduction in safety issues. 

Moseley-Sayles recommended at least waiting for some results of the California program before Nevada moves forward.  

The post State lawmakers urged to consider authorizing automated traffic enforcement appeared first on Nevada Current.

Millions of dollars for safe routes to schools for kids would instead be used for a freeway sound wall on Interstate 80 in this area. When the Regional Transportation Commission brought the proposal to a bike walk citizens advisory board and a member raised questions about it, he was asked to resign. (Photo courtesy of NevadaBike.org)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

It sounds absurd. There is an attempt to quietly allocate millions of dollars meant for kids’ school safety in Washoe County to an Interstate 80 sound wall instead. No one would have noticed if it weren’t for one guy on the little-known Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) Citizen’s Micromodal Advisory Committee (CMAC). That committee is supposed to advise on how to protect vulnerable road users like kids, not direct money away from them for freeways. It gets even more absurd. After committee member Damien Cole raised the red flag about this strange reappropriation of funds, he was promptly asked to resign.

“The whole thing has a kind of fishiness,” Cole told the Gazette-Journal. Despite the pressure, he refuses to resign, committee members have come to his defense, and they are all on thin ice. We’ve heard that RTC’s in the north and south aren’t fans of their citizens’ oversight boards, but luckily Teamsters Union 533 worked with legislators Natha Anderson and Skip Daly to solidify the existence of these citizens’ boards in state law last year. But the RTC wrote their governing policy which says “RTC staff” can remove members with no vote of the committee. The committee needs your support right now, and at the end of this piece, I’ll tell you how to help.

Let’s talk about the “fishiness” of the proposal to use children’s safety funds for a freeway sound wall. The funds were originally for the Safe Routes to Schools Program to do just that: improve safe routes for kids to walk and bike to school. The funds are held in trust by RTC. According to the CMAC meeting agenda, the Washoe County School District couldn’t find matching dollars. So the RTC asked the CMAC committee members to approve using the money for an I-80 expansion instead. The micromodal advisory committee is focused on safety for bikes, scooters, pedestrians, and people who are disabled and ride the bus. Asking them to take money meant for vulnerable road users and put it towards a freeway where they aren’t even allowed is even more absurd. Raiding a school safety program for a freeway expansion is not in line with our community values.

This kind of attempt is part of a decades-long pattern of misguided choices by the RTC that put lives in danger, raised housing costs, ruined the environment, and incentivized unsustainable transportation. In this case, using funds for a freeway expansion instead of protecting students, we don’t have to look far for why the funding should stay where it belongs – with school safety.

According to the Washoe County School District, 21 kids were hit by cars near schools last year, one of them died at McQueen High School. Today, teachers are forced to spend hours of their valuable time every day being crosswalk guards, waving orange flags, and putting their own lives in danger as kids run around the streets in front of schools. My daughter refuses to ride her bike to school because it’s too dangerous. She talks to the kids at Reno High School who do ride, and they tell her that they are terrified. Kids should not be terrified on their way to school. I live nearby Reno High, and I see the students jumping their bikes off sidewalks to avoid fellow students who are walking, darting between parked cars and dodging in and out of traffic because there are no bike lanes. Even the Reno High School principal wants a bike path on Foster Drive and the road is wide enough to fit everything that’s there and a protected path – but somehow there isn’t enough money to get it done. Because kids ride this way some people treat them like terrorists. They have no other choice because our community keeps stealing funds meant for them and using it for other things like freeway expansions.

Here is the bottom line – choosing a concrete sound wall over children’s safety means more dead children at schools whose screams can’t be blocked by the RTC’s new I-80 sound wall. Even more horrifying, this deadly choice is subsidized by their parents’ tax dollars.

The Board of the RTC has recently become more balanced and focused on vulnerable road users. But clearly, the agency’s staff are still making really bad choices with our money that, if allowed to continue, will keep our children in daily peril. The Boards of RTC and Washoe County School District should put the children’s safety funds back where they belong.

It’s not too late to choose kids over concrete. The Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance has created a really easy way for you to write to local elected officials using www.BuildABetterBikeNetwork.com.

Tell them: “Take back the Safe Routes to Schools Funds from the I-80 expansion and use the money for its intended purpose – kids safety.”

The post Millions for kids’ safety go to I-80 sound wall instead appeared first on Nevada Current.

James Jackson, a teacher who travels among ten schools in East Las Vegas, said EV charging stations are plentiful near his Centennial Hills home, but not where he works. (Photo: Dana Gentry)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Clean air and clean energy advocates are calling on the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enact the strongest standards possible to reduce emissions from vehicles beginning with 2027 models in an effort to improve health and combat climate change.  

Last year the EPA announced proposed standards to be phased in on models from 2027 through 2032. Transportation is the leading domestic source of carbon pollution, according to the EPA. 

“The tangible health benefits of strong clean car standards for our communities are clear,” Melissa Ramos of the American Lung Association said during a media event Thursday at the East Las Vegas Library, the site of one of just a few electric vehicle charging stations in the low-income area. 

East Las Vegas “has historically grappled with disproportionate amounts of air pollution,” said Mercedes McKinley of Moms Clean Air Force, adding the valley has the 15th worst air quality of 227 metropolitan areas ranked by the American Lung Association, and a higher asthma rate than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control.   

“The implementation of robust clean car standards is not just about environmental stewardship; it is also a strategic move to strengthen our economy and create sustainable job opportunities,” said State Sen. Dina Neal, a Democrat. “As we advocate for these needed standards, we’re securing a healthier planet and a resilient economic future for all Nevadans.”

But not all Nevadans share equally in the benefits of electric vehicles.

James Jackson, a teacher who travels among ten schools in East Las Vegas, said EV charging stations are plentiful near his Centennial Hills home, but not where he works. 

“There aren’t a lot of EVs in this neighborhood,” he said while stopping at the library during his lunch break for a quick charge that will add 10 to 15 miles to the battery range on his electric BMW. He doesn’t think it’s fair that low-income residents will pay a fee on their electric bills for charging stations, essentially subsidizing EV owners in wealthier areas. 

NV Energy’s Economic Recovery Transportation Electrification Plan is approved for up to $100 million in infrastructure programs to facilitate EV use, especially in historically underserved communities, the company says.  The cost has not yet been added to electricity rates.

“There is true inequity in the EV space in regards to affordability,” acknowledges Neal. “That has been a national conversation within the National Congress of Black State Legislators, that if we don’t have any cars in our neighborhood, then why are we paying for it?”  

Paul Bordenkircher of the Nevada Electric Vehicle Association says new standards from the EPA for EVs “will drive down costs, making them more affordable for more people.” 

He agrees EV owners are not paying their fair share by using charging stations subsidized by low-income residents and by avoiding paying road taxes at the gas pump. He favors a DMV-imposed tax instead, based on miles driven. 

In January, 16 Republican governors, including Gov. Joe Lombardo, wrote a letter to Biden opposing proposed EPA emission standards, claiming the administration was mandating EV production and urging it to hit the brakes.

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The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority has been awarded a $7 million federal grant for improvements. (Photo credit: Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Biden administration will send close to $1 billion to airports across the country to upgrade terminal facilities, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday.

The $970 million in grants will go to 144 airports in 44 states and three territories. Earmarked for terminal improvements, Buttigieg and other administration officials said the grants would fund projects to improve the passenger experience and create jobs.

In Nevada, the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority will be awarded $7 million for central utility plant equipment.

The administration has worked to improve the air travel experience, Buttigieg told reporters Wednesday.

“Part of that better travel experience is to invest in our physical infrastructure to improve the airports that represent the beginning and end of every passenger’s journey and airports that are a key economic engine for workers who show up there every day and communities that rely on those airports to sustain their connectedness and their competitiveness,” Buttigieg said.

The grants will fund a variety of projects, ranging from building new terminals or concourses to making bathrooms bigger, Buttigieg said.

The funds would also help improve baggage systems and security screening areas, expand public transit options, build solar energy infrastructure and increase accessibility, Buttigieg said.

“This funding is real,” said Shannetta Griffin, the Federal Aviation Administration’s deputy administrator for airports. “We are changing lives.”

Buttigieg and Griffin briefed reporters on the grant selections on the condition their comments not be made public until Thursday.

The FAA received more than 600 applications for grants asking for a total of $14 billion, Griffin said.

The funding is authorized by the infrastructure law enacted in 2021. The grant selections this week represent the third round of roughly $1 billion of annual grant funding under the program. The law’s airport terminal program provides $5 billion over 5 years.

The total costs for the projects selected this year are more than $10.3 billion, meaning the grants announced Thursday cover an average of about 9.4% of total project costs.

Separate funding is available for aviation operations. The infrastructure law provides $25 billion in funding for airports, including the terminal grants.

Buttigieg highlighted grants to small airports in Appleton, Wisconsin, and on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that spans portions of North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Appleton International Airport will receive $3.4 million for a $78 million overhaul that includes adding four gates, updating buildings and improving access.

The Standing Rock Airport will receive $700,000 out of $800,000 needed to build a new terminal building near Fort Yates, North Dakota. The general aviation airport, used for recreation and medical emergencies, does not have a terminal.

The largest grant in this year’s selections will go to Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida. A $50 million grant will be put toward a $221 million terminal connector.

Large grants will also go to major hubs, including $40 million for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, $36 million for the Phoenix airport, $35 million for Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia and $26.6 million for Denver’s airport.

Buttigieg will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday to announce a $27 million grant for that city’s airport to replace passenger boarding bridges.

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(Image: Brightline West media kit)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The U.S. Department of Transportation has authorized $2.5 billion in private activity bonds to help finance the Brightline high-speed rail project connecting Las Vegas and Southern California, the department announced Tuesday. 

Bondholders don’t pay federal taxes on interest earned from private activity bonds, and so are willing to accept lower rates of return when they buy them, in turn allowing project developers to borrow money at low interest rates.

The $2.5 billion bond allocation announced Tuesday is in addition to a $1 billion allocation in 2020. 

The project also received $3 billion in federal funding in December, made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Touting that $3 billion in infrastructure law spending during a trip to Las Vegas last month, Pres. Joe Biden said the project is expected to create 35,000 construction jobs, and 1,000 permanent jobs in operations and maintenance once in service. An agreement between the California and Southern Nevada Building Trades will ensure the high-speed rail is built using union labor, while a separate agreement with unions representing railroad workers will ensure operations and maintenance is also carried out by union labor.

The private activity bonding authorization coupled with the federal infrastructure law grant funding totals a little more than half the $12 billion estimated cost of  the 218-mile, high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga. The project’s completion still hinges on Brightline attracting additional private investment, including finding buyers for the private activity bonds.

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