The first passenger high-speed rail line in the United States is on track to be completed before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Construction of the nation's first passenger high-speed rail began in April 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2028, when millions of passengers will commute and travel short distances on the new 218-mile (351km) passenger high-speed rail. The $12 billion (87 billion yuan) line connects Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said, "Americans have dreamed of riding high-speed rail for decades, and this project will also create thousands of jobs, boost regional economies, and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution on roads." ”
The project is being run by Brightline West, whose sister company, Brightline, has previously run a fast train between Miami and Orlando, Florida (Figure 1). Mike Reininger, the company's chief executive, said that there are cities that are too close to each other by plane and too far by car, and that passenger high-speed rail is the best option to connect these cities.
Fig.1 Bright Line rapid train station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Source: https://ktla.com/news/california/ap-from-sin-city-to-the-city-of-angels-building-starts-on-high-speed-rail-line/
The Western Bright Line received $6.5 billion in government support, including a $3 billion Federal Infrastructure Fund grant from the Biden administration and an approval of $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds, as well as a $1 billion federal mandate for similar bonds. Once completed, the line will be the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the United States, with a design speed of 186 miles per hour (about 300 km/h), which is comparable to the speed of a Japanese Shinkansen train. Wi-Fi and other amenities will also be provided. The passenger route is expected to shorten the journey across the Mojave Desert from four hours to just over two hours and will cost much less than air travel. The Western Guangming Line is expected to have 11 million one-way passengers per year, with about 30,000 passengers passing on the line every day.
Source: https://ktla.com/news/california/ap-from-sin-city-to-the-city-of-angels-building-starts-on-high-speed-rail-line/;https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/04/128577-brightline-west-breaks-ground
New York City wants to improve road safety through the Sámi Act
New York City is moving forward with the Sammy's Law, which is expected to be passed in 2025, which aims to limit the speed of cars in New York City to 20 miles per hour (about 32 km/h) (Figure 2). The bill is named after Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old boy who died in a speeding car crash in New York City's Park Slope in 2013.
Figure 2 Residents of Queens, New York City, march in the streets in support of the passage of the Sami Act in April 2024
Source: https://queenseagle.com/all/2024/4/24/queens-pols-and-grieving-families-celebrate-passage-of-sammys-law
Data shows that since 2013, there have been seven fatal traffic accidents in the Slop Park area, but the Slop Park area is not the area with the highest pedestrian road safety risk in New York City. Data shows that the neighborhood with the highest pedestrian road safety risk in New York City in 2023 is the Borough Park neighborhood, which has been the scene of six fatal crashes. In the same year, New York's Upper West Side, Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood, Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, and Queens' Flushing, Ozone Park, and Woodside neighborhoods were also high-risk areas for pedestrian road safety in New York City, with three traffic accidents resulting in pedestrian fatalities in each area.
In 2014, the City adopted an initiative called Vision Zero, which prioritizes traffic safety for pedestrians on the road. The adoption of the Sámi Act will go a long way in reducing the speed of cars by reducing or even eliminating traffic fatalities through education and infrastructure improvements, such as redesigning roads, improving the installation of traffic lights, and increasing facilities to protect pedestrians and cyclists.
Amy Cohen, the mother of Sami Cohen and co-founder of Families for Safe Streets, said in a statement: "Reducing driving speeds saves lives, and I will be happy if the Sámi Act passes." Because it means so much not only to my family, but also to countless families in New York who have struggled with it for years. "Road safety advocates say they will continue to work until everyone can walk safely and freely through New York City. UPI
Source: https://www.issa.int/html/annual-review-2023/zh-hans/an-active-year-for-prevention-and-vision-zero/index.html;https://pix11.com/news/transit/what-are-nycs-deadliest-neighborhoods-for-pedestrians/
The above information is contributed and edited by Gu Xiaohan from the American station of this journal Xu Mei typesetting | Gu Chunxue
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