Free Republic

...for crimes committed during protests. Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new bill Monday that would increase charges for those who participate in a violent or disorderly assembly. DeSantis made the announcement at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The bill is called the “Combating Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act." A violent or disorderly assembly would be defined as when seven ore more people are involved in an assembly that causes damage to property or injury to people.

This past weekend, a car hit two activists protesting on a Seattle freeway, killing one and injuring the other. While that made headlines, the real story is what’s happening to drivers, many of whom are deciding that it's preferable to commit manslaughter by running over protesters, rather than being sitting ducks in their cars, with leftists scrabbling at their windows like movie zombies hungry for brains. When cars run through protesters, the leftist media reports the story as if white drivers are in Mad Max mode, gunning for innocent blacks protesting for their rights. That’s what happened in Minneapolis shortly...

Our Nation’s transportation infrastructure system is central to the ability of our manufacturers and exporters to get their goods to market and provides vital support for our national defense. On National Defense Transportation Day and during National Transportation Week, we recognize the critical contributions of the hardworking and dedicated Americans who ensure the safety, efficiency, and reliability of our transportation infrastructure systems. Our Nation has a proven history of transportation innovation and might. We built the Transcontinental Railroad that led to today’s interconnected freight rail network, engineered interstate highways and inland river infrastructure that connect the heartlands to our coastlines...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - In cities around the world, public transportation systems are key to getting workers back on the job and restarting devastated economies. Yet methods of getting around, ranging from trains and buses to ferries and bicycles, will have to be re-imagined for the coronavirus era. In Europe in particular, mass transit is shaping up as a new focus of governments working to get their countries back on track while responding to the pandemic that now has a death toll of over 120,000 people across the continent. In the capitals of hard-hit Italy, Spain, France and Britain, standing...

It's time to stop throwing money at an obsolete form of travel and focus on the transportation system that is already moving more than 80 percent of passenger travel in the U.S. When most of the nation’s governors shut down nonessential businesses and directed people to stay at home, they made the mistake of keeping urban transit systems running despite a 2018 study showing that mass public transportation systems expedite the spread of infectious diseases in communities. Further, a 2011 study found that people who ride urban transit are nearly six times more likely to suffer from upper respiratory infections...

Folks, in response to the well-written piece by John Nolte over at Breitbart commenting on the worthlessness of Hollywood elites verses the people who actually make this country move: TRUCKERS and STOCKERS. The former offers nothing of value other than mindless entertainment, the latter will in the coming months, subject themselves to the inherent risks of the virus so that this country continues to thrive. Some facts you probably are unaware of: Truckers have no champion. Business likes cheap freight. Consumers like cheap freight. Guess who gets the short end? Yep. It has been my experience that as soon as...

Uber transformed transportation when it spent a fortune turning ride-sharing into a mainstream mode of transportation. But the 2.0 version of ride-sharing is where the real disruption begins. It fixes everything that’s wrong and latches onto a mega-trend the giants shouldn’t have ignored: ethical investing. This is where drivers get a boost, riders get a choice, and CO2 goes neutral.

Two U.S. senators are urging the Federal Transit Authority to clarify a ban on Chinese rail manufacturers and to warn local transit authorities of potential national security threats from China, in a letter obtained by Axios. The big picture: The ban highlights a growing expansion of national security risks to include economic security, as the U.S. responds to Chinese government economic policies that many perceive as exploitative. Details: Dated Feb. 13 and addressed to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the letter from Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) cites confusion about the ban and urges the FTA to provide...

Not many people would complain about a 60-degree day in February. But this winter’s temperature spikes could mean even earlier exposure to one of spring’s downsides: potholes. Tech gurus can’t stop the weather conditions that cause asphalt to weaken and crack — eventually opening up gaping holes large enough to swallow a Goodyear tire or mess up a Jeep’s alignment. But armed with smartphones, algorithms and self-healing asphalt, they’re trying to make road maintenance a little more manageable. While some are experimenting with high-tech ways to fill the pothole once it pops up — like using a 3D printer and...

After years of work, the Interstate 35 reconstruction project in Bell County is pretty much done, while a similar project to widen Interstate 14 still has years of work ahead. “Overall, the I-35 Reconstruction Project ... particularly in Waco, is continuing at an aggressive pace, well on track for a 2023 completion. Bell County work remains substantially complete with minor ‘punch list’ items such as completion of the Temple Welcome Monument and the standard establishment of vegetation along the corridor within the Temple/Troy area remaining, prior to final acceptance of the project,” Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Ken Roberts said...

The strain is showing, and pretty early into construction along Interstate 35 through Waco. Some readers on the Trib Facebook page began to crack upon learning Waco-area transportation leaders last week approved $76 million worth of work to I-35 near New Road with hopes of finishing in 2023, around the same time larger I-35 reconstruction wraps up to the north. The Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board approved the work, including new ramps, frontage roads and overpasses at Valley Mills Drive and New Road, as part of a long-range plan called Connections 2045. The improvements, divided between two $38 million...

The Harris County Toll Road Authority plans to take a three-week pause in construction on the new Houston Ship Channel Bridge along the Sam Houston Tollway so engineers can agree on a solution to a possible design flaw found nearly 20 months into the project. The $1 billion bridge — the costliest infrastructure project in the county’s history — was designed by the Dallas office of FIGG Bridge Group. The company, based in Florida, came under scrutiny when its Tallahassee office designed a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in February 2018 at Florida International University, killing six. FIGG and its consultants...

Widening and improvements to a 27-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Robeson and Cumberland counties are being sped up due to a grant. The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to accelerate the improvements because of a $22.5 million federal grant awarded this week. It is the second major federal grant the NCDOT has received since the summer of 2018 to help fund major improvements along I-95 corridor. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the grant through its “Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development,” or BUILD, program, which helps states and cities build and repair critical pieces of the transportation network....

The Old Dominion is trending in an ominous direction, and it’s a problem for the whole country. On Monday, the Virginia General Assembly ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocates of the ERA have argued that Virginia is the 38th and final state needed to add it to the Constitution, though the legal argument for that is dubious. Nevertheless, if the ERA were to become law, it would almost certainly provide the legal basis to enshrine left-wing social dogmas nationwide, among other negative consequences. Other states should take note: No matter how conservative your state has been in the past, you’re...

MADISON, CT - So-called "Supercharging" Tesla stations will soon be open on both sides of Interstate 95 in Madison. Superchargers are under construction at the 95 Madison rest areas, both northbound and southbound, between exits 61 and 62. Both are 10 stalls. Currently the nearest Superchargers are located in Milford. Tesla supercharging stations charge support peak rates of up to 250kW per car. AModel 3 Long Range operating at peak efficiency can recover up to 75 miles of charge in 5 minutes and charge at rates of up to 1,000 miles per hour. V3 Supercharging will ultimately cut the amount...

Dive Brief: In what Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is calling "a monumental and historic achievement," the three-member state Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to approve amendments to the public-private partnership (P3) that will deliver Hogan's $9 billion Traffic Relief Plan. The plan includes implementation of Maryland and Virginia's Capital Beltway Accord, which allows for a new American Legion Bridge between the two states near Washington, D.C., and the approval will allow the state to solicit bids. In order to win a majority vote for the plan, Hogan agreed to eliminate from the first phase of the project the widening...

Your commute could get worse before it gets better along a stretch of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County. Later this month, crews will begin adding express lanes from Glades Road in Boca Raton to Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. For realtor Ricky Hen, this is great news. "Traffic is awful to be honest with you," said Hen. The Florida Department of Transportation will add two tolled express lanes along that stretch of I-95 in southern Palm Beach County. "I think it's great idea," said Hen. "I think it will help a lot and add a lot and help a...

HOUSTON – Following 20 months of construction of the new Ship Channel Bridge along the Beltway 8, the county has issued a pause. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said the decision was made following the discovery of a design flaw with part of the bridge. “I want to make sure that we are doing everything on behalf of public safety to ensure that everything is well,” Garcia said. “This was obviously concerning and alarming for me." John Tyler, the deputy director of engineering with the Harris County Toll Road Authority and in charge of the project, said the flaw was...

The widespread adoption of electric cars in California is reducing gas tax revenue by millions of dollars a year. That's money that would have been used for road repairs. Now, drivers of those cars are coming under increasing criticism for not paying their fair share to maintain the state’s roads. “Electric cars cause as much wear and tear to highways as traditional cars,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a nonprofit lobbying and policy organization. When California’s controversial gas tax measure Senate Bill 1 was passed in 2017, lawmakers included a $100 annual fee for zero...

Houston is a faraway place on FM 1413 in southern Liberty County, where a driver is more likely to see a pony munching on grass than a shop on the corner. If not for the trees and an electrical transmission line, the sky would be unbroken, horizon to horizon. It soon could look a lot more like other parts of suburban Houston where the Grand Parkway has gone, with cul-de-sacs replacing horse pastures and retail centers sprouting at major intersections.