#Transportation Department

[gwydionmisha]

Report: Federal Workers with 'Exceptional' Performance Reviews Dismissed for Alleged 'Performance' Problems

[yetisidelblog]

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) promised historic investments in our nation’s infrastructure: $3.3 billion in transit funding approved for 132 projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C.

Many states and local governments have yet to complete the application process, leaving the funding vulnerable to clawbacks by Trump-aligned forces who want to halt progress.

This funding was designed to reconnect divided communities, repair decades of damage, and create jobs in disadvantaged areas. But bureaucratic delays and partisan sabotage led by Trump-aligned forces threaten to derail these initiatives. Making matters worse, we can be sure that once the Trump administration takes over the Transportation Department, there'll be no stopping them from getting away with it.

Here’s what’s at stake:

$104 million to reconnect neighborhoods in Atlanta divided by highways.

$48 million to restore Portland’s Albina neighborhood, addressing years of neglect and displacement.

$20 million to revitalize Birmingham’s Black Main Street.

Funds for transformative projects like the Chinatown Stitch in Philadelphia and improved connectivity in Montgomery, Alabama.

We can’t let this happen. Secretary Pete Buttigieg has the authority to fast-track the disbursement of these funds, ensuring every dollar goes to the communities that need them most.

Without immediate action, projects to reduce pollution, build bike lanes, and restore equitable access will vanish.

Click ‘START WRITING’ to sign and send a message to Secretary Buttigieg urging him to immediately cut through the red tape and protect $3.3 billion in approved funding now.

@upontheshelfreviews

@greenwingspino

@one-time-i-dreamt

@tenaflyviper

@akron-squirrel

@ifihadaworldofmyown

@justice-for-jacob-marley

@voicetalentbrendan

@thebigdeepcheatsy

@what-is-my-aesthetic

@ravenlynclemens

@writerofweird

@bogleech

[reasonsforhope]

"This week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a new rule requiring airlines to make bathrooms more accessible for disabled people. All new single-aisle aircraft will be fitted with fully-accessible lavatories.

Most flights inside the United States are single-aisle and as technology has improved, they are used more frequently for long flights, including coast-to-coast trips that can last as long as six hours. Double-aisle plans are already subject to the regulation but are primarily used for international flights.

Out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced the new regulations, saying, “Traveling can be stressful enough without worrying about being able to access a restroom; yet today, millions of wheelchair users are forced to choose between dehydrating themselves before boarding a plane or avoiding air travel altogether.” ...

The secretary has made it a priority to improve service on airlines during his tenure. In 2022, six airlines were forced to pay millions of dollars in refunds to hundreds of thousands of customers and were also fined millions for causing the issues. The department’s firm stance on the side of customers has continued through this year after multiple companies have had meltdowns, stranding thousands of travelers.

All planes delivered to airlines starting in 2026 must include several upgrades. Planes already in service will not need to be retrofitted unless the plane is renovated.

“These aircraft must have at least one lavatory of sufficient size to permit a passenger with a disability (with the help of an assistant, if necessary) to approach, enter, and maneuver within the aircraft lavatory, to use all lavatory facilities, and leave by means of the aircraft’s onboard wheelchair if necessary,” the DOT said in a statement.

Accessible faucets and controls, grab bars, accessible call buttons and door locks, minimum obstruction to the passage of an onboard wheelchair, and an available visual barrier for privacy are also required upgrades."

-via LGBTQ Nation, July 28, 2023

Wayyyyyyy fucking overdue but I'll take it!! Also, very nice curb cut effect: We all get to be less miserable on airplanes, and older people don't have to worry as much about airplane bathroom fall risks.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Friday night, Jacksonville residents took to the Main Street Bridge to celebrate Pride Month. Just weeks prior, Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration and the Florida Department of Transportation issued an edict banning rainbow-colored lighting on bridges during Pride Month, mandating that all such lighting be replaced with red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Residents, however, were undeterred. They carried flashlights and rainbow gels, took their positions, and proceeded to light up the bridge themselves. Weeks ago, Manatee County Commission Chairman Mike Rahn objected to Pride lighting on bridges in Florida. Many bridges in the state, such as the Skyway Bridge in Tampa and the Acosta Bridge in Jacksonville, have been lit up in rainbow colors in previous years. This year, however, Rahn attempted to stop such lights from going up on the Skyway Bridge, formally objecting to the lighting. He expressed that the decision did not lie with him, passing the blame to Governor DeSantis. Rahn stated, “I do not have the authority to override the governor of the state of Florida. However, in my opinion, the lighting of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is an FDOT matter and should not be left to the individual counties.”

In response, Jared Perdue of the Florida Department of Transportation declared that this year, bridges would be lit up in red, white, and blue all summer. This decision bars Pride lighting, Juneteenth lighting, and many other special lighting days on bridges in Florida. Perdue stated in a tweet, “As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida's bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day! Thanks to the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation.” The use of the word "freedom" while taking away the choice to light up bridges for Pride Month struck Matthew McCallister, who organized the bridge lighting event on Friday night, as "Orwellian." In an interview with News 4 Jax, McCallister responded to the rainbow Pride light ban, saying, “The timing of that is really strange. The idea that we are going to celebrate freedom by giving you absolutely no choices seems Orwellian, honestly.”

Really happy to hear that some Florida cities told Ron DeSantis “up yours” to his anti-LGBTQ+ ways. 🏳️‍🌈

[odinsblog]

Elon’s breeding kink (aka, white nationalism + eugenics) is now federal policy

And next we’ll start hearing about the “sanctity of marriage”—from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who together (at last count) have 17 children with six different women.

[fucxingcuties]

MOO DENG IS EVERYWHERE!!!

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

This is simly creep and reeks of desperation on the part of conservatives and oligarchs who whine about falling birth rates and not enough children being made. At this point abstaining from procreation is resistance, we should give in an have children because some rich oligarchs and traditionalist demand we do so.

[onlytiktoks]

[alphamecha-mkii]

ILM Art Department Challenge - Survivor - AT-AT Transport by Joshua Cairos

[aryburn-trains]

New York City, NY April 13, 1986

[thescarletnargacuga]

RACEWAY AU JAX

This walking DOT violation doesn't care about winning. There's no point. He's in it for the mayhem. The more crashes he causes, the more entertained he is. Especially when the other racers fight back.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sanjana Karanth and Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON ― The federal Department of Transportation has issued a memo ordering programs supported by the agency to prioritize funding projects for communities with “marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.” The unusual four-page memo also directs thousands of employees to give special priority to projects and activities that improve transportation for “families with young children.” The directive applies to all Transportation Department-supported grants, loans and contracts, including existing agreements. “I’ve never seen a memo like this before,” said one congressional aide who works on transportation policy and requested anonymity to speak freely. “Considering fertility rates when prioritizing federal grants? We obviously have no idea what the full impact of that will be,” said this aide. “It’s absolutely creepy. It’s a little ‘Chinese government.’ [The Trump administration] would hate that comparison, but I don’t know where else I’ve seen a policy of ‘we need to incentivize baby-making.’” [...] In addition to its directives related to marriage and babies, the Transportation Department’s memo blocks recipients of federal money from implementing “mask mandates,” a reference to requirements that transit agencies followed to limit the spread of infection during the height of COVID-19. The memo also requires recipients to comply with federal immigration enforcement in order to receive funding — the latest effort by the administration to target undocumented immigrants, conduct mass arrests and deportations, and deny federal transportation funds to so-called sanctuary cities.

The DOT under Sean Duffy released a totally whacked out memo prioritizing right-wing culture war items such as banning mask mandates, encouraging natalism by rewarming projects to areas with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average, and comply with the heinously cruel immigration policies by 47 targeting undocumented immigrants.

See Also:

Abortion, Every Day: Trump Administration Memo: Preferred Funding to Communities with High Birth Rates

Daily Kos: Trump Transportation chief: Want a road? Have a kid

[20th-century-railroading]

Disco Stripes

New Jersey Transit EMD E8A 4334 (ex-Southern Railway) sits forlornly out back of the Elizabethport shop. It's wearing an odd white paint job with classic NJT "disco stripes".

Elizabethport, New Jersey November 1983

[hezigler]

Pete Buttigieg Wants to Make America Not Suck... Again?

Hasan Minhaj is a comedian/journalist, possibly second only to John Stewart. This interview with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigiege is both informative and entertaining. An outstanding piece of true edutainment.

[state-of-connecticut-official]

If everyone could go to @ctdot_official on Instagram and spam the shit out of their posts about the parking garage in Stamford, I would greatly appreciate it. It is one of the most useless things this stupid department could spend money on and the fact that they brag about their ugly LED wall is so fucking annoying. we need to tell them that it isnt okay.