These will definitely be “createdâ€. Out of thin air and paid with imaginary money.
The Obama administration will propose that the federal government take over safety regulation of the nation’s subway and light-rail systems, responding to what it says is haphazard and ineffective oversight by state agencies.
Under the proposal, the U.S. Department of Transportation would do for transit what it does for airlines and Amtrak: Set and enforce federal regulations to ensure that millions of passengers get to their destinations safely. Administration officials said the plan will be presented in coming weeks to Congress; changing the law is subject to its approval.
The proposal would affect every subway and light-rail system in the country, including large systems in Washington, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Administration officials said they are responding to a growing number of collisions, derailments and worker deaths on subways, and in particular to a fatal June 22 crash in the District of Columbia and failures in oversight that have surfaced in its wake.
“After the train crash, we were all sitting around here scratching our heads, saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something about this,’ ” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “And we discovered that there’s not much we could do, because the law wouldn’t allow us to do it.”
Safety experts praised the initiative.
Let me translate that last line: “Concern trolls love to be concerned.â€
Just like the Department of Homeland Security has not made us any more secure, a new layer of NTSB oversight will not make getting from Point A to Point B any more safe.
We’re doomed.
We’ve already got TSA troopers on light rail in Portland. The last batch of Federal dollars to help build the Clackamas Line came with a proviso allowing them in, so here they are.
BTW, it was the Bush administration who put that proviso in.
RIVRDOG, didn’t know that – thanks for the pointer. That explains it. We discussed their presence a bit before, but I wasn’t aware of the source of their involvement.
Retarded idea. They don’t do anything.
The obama administration is like a giant boa constrictor-every time you take a breath the son-of-a bitch tightens the coils. Another plan that produces no benefits at a huge cost.