In The News
Obama signs transportation bill extension; hoping for longer bill later
WASHINGTON — President Obama has signed a bill extending MAP-21, the current surface transportation legislation, until November 20, but most of the attention on the extension legislation focused on railroads because the bill included language giving railroads at least three more years to upgrade train safety technology.
Congress is hoping the third extension of MAP-21 will give lawmakers time to pass a long-term highway bill.
The Senate has already done so; the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed and sent to the floor the House version of a long-term bill.
Once the House version passes, the bills will go to committee to iron out differences.
As for the extension on railroad safety technology, the measure was sought by the rail industry, which said many railroads were likely to miss a deadline for installing the technology, known as positive train control or PTC. Railroads had seven years to install PTC. They now have until Dec. 31, 2018, to complete the upgrade or seek a waiver.
Federal investigators say PTC would have prevented an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia last May that killed eight people and injured about 200 others.
The trucking industry is running far ahead of railroads in terms of safety technology with many technologies becoming standard equipment on tractors and fleets voluntarily installing technologies that are now optional.
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at [email protected].