Dept. of Transportation

December 15, 2010 - U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.7 percent fewer workers in October 2009 than in October 2008, the 16th consecutive decrease in full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 2). FTE calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the October FTE total of 379,800 for the scheduled passenger carriers was 14,400 below October 2008 and the lowest total for any month since 1993. Historic employment data can be found on the BTS web site.    » read more »

Transportation Agreement Mandates Jobs for U.S. Mariners

October 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Acting Maritime Administrator David T. Matsuda today approved the construction of a deepwater port for liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the coast of Florida. As part of the approval agreement, officials for Port Dolphin Energy, LLC, agreed to provide employment and training opportunities to American mariners on ships using the port. The Maritime Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“This energy project is a win for Florida consumers, and for U.S. maritime workers,” said Transportation Secretary LaHood. “We will continue our focus on creating job opportunities for American seafarers and other maritime workers.”    » read more »

Schumer Calls On Congress To Quickly Pass His Legislation Banning Dangerous Practice

October 4, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released a new report showing the severe danger of texting while driving posed to New York City area teenagers. Schumer’s report found that nearly 100 teenagers were killed in the New York City area in just the last five years in accidents where the driver was found to be texting while they were driving.    » read more »

Funds will bring airport’s fire trucks and County’s mass casualty trailer under one roof for the first time

02-Jun-2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin (both D-Md.) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Hagerstown Regional Airport in Hagerstown $2.3 million through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) to construct an aircraft rescue and firefighting building.    » read more »

May 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller (both D-W.Va.) and Representative Nick J. Rahall, II (D-W.Va.) today announced $2,000,000 in funding from the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration for road repairs in southern West Virginia following severe flooding on May 9th, 2009.

"The Obama Administration approved the federal disaster declaration promptly, and I am pleased to see money beginning to move into Southern West Virginia just as quickly to make these necessary infrastructure improvements and help get the area back on its feet as quickly as possible," said Senator Byrd.    » read more »

April 17, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood broke ground today on the first New Hampshire road project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The project, resurfacing nearly ten miles of heavily-trafficked freeway on NH Route 101, will create and sustain up to 250 direct and indirect jobs. Secretary LaHood was joined at the groundbreaking in Epping by NH Governor John Lynch, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter and Congressman Paul Hodes.    » read more »

March 4, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts: Brian Kennedy, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Labor; Dana Gresham, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs, Department of Transportation; Peter Kovar, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Sherburne "Shere" Abbott, Nominee for Associate Director of Environment, Office of Science and Technology Policy.    » read more »

February 17, 2009 -- “Today President Obama kept faith with the American people. Less than one month after taking the oath of office, he signed the landmark American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“I thank and congratulate President Barack Obama for this impressive and hard-won victory.

“This is the day America starts back. Resources to help America are now available. At the Department of Transportation we will make sure the transportation money in this law gets Americans to work quickly.

“Transportation is a great enabler of economic growth, the lifeblood of commerce. It moves people to jobs and goods to the marketplace. Without strong transportation arteries, economies stagnate.    » read more »

February 9, 2009 -- The on-time performance of the nation’s largest airlines improved in 2008 compared to the previous year, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 76.0 percent for January through December 2008, up from 2007’s 73.4 percent rate. During December 2008, the carriers posted an on-time performance rate of 65.3 percent, up from December 2007’s 64.3 percent but down from November 2008’s 83.3 percent.    » read more »

Public Citizen Asks Transportation Secretary LaHood to Intervene

Jan. 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public Citizen today urged the new Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to end the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) practice of withholding highway funds from states that attempt to curb corruption by enacting "pay-to-play" reforms. Most recently, the FHWA threatened to withhold federal highway funds from Illinois because of the state’s effort to clean up its contracting process. Given the recent scandals, the state’s new restrictions on government contractors contributing to political campaigns merit praise, not punishment.    » read more »

January 23, 2009 -- Ray H. LaHood became the sixteenth U.S. Secretary of Transportation just before 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 23.

LaHood was joined for an official swearing-in ceremony in his new office by his wife Kathy, son Sam and fellow Illinoisan and Assistant Majority Leader, U.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin. The oath of office was administered by Linda Washington, Assistant Secretary for Administration, and took place before an audience of his new staff and members of the Department of Transportation transition team.

The full Senate confirmed LaHood by voice vote on January 22, following his being reported out of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee just the day before, on January 21.

A ceremonial swearing-in will be scheduled at a later date.    » read more »