Trucking on: How truckers are battling historic labor shortage
RICHMOND — From hand sanitizer and vaccines to groceries and toilet paper, truck drivers are trucking through the COVID-19 pandemic despite a historic labor shortage. Many industries moved workers home during the start of the pandemic, but truckers worked “to meet the needs of this country.” “The trucking industry has st[...]
Coalfield Expressway could have $12.8B impact, study says
The cumulative economic impact of the Coalfields Expressway (CFX) during a 50-year span is estimated to be $12.8 billion in 2021 dollars, according to a study by Richmond-based Chmura Economics & Analytics presented Tuesday. The CFX is a proposed limited-access highway that would run through Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia. It is designated as […]
Metro to keep reduced service levels through end of year
Metro customers will see reduced rail service through the end of the year, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Monday. The transit system authority attributed the disruption to its 7000-series fleet, the newest rail cars, still being out of service. These trains make up much of Metro’s fleet but ha[...]
MWAA creates diversity, inclusion, social impact VP post
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees the Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, created a new Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact on Wednesday, to be led by Tanisha Lewis, a 21-year veteran of the authority. Lewis was named the authority’s firs[...]
Va. expands Elizabeth River Tunnels toll relief program
The commonwealth of Virginia and Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo LLC have partnered to expand the Toll Relief Program, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. Elizabeth River Crossings, partly owned by Spanish company Abertis Infraestructuras S.A, owns Elizabeth River Tunnels, and the program, which was established in 2016, will red[...]
Questioning the daily grind
Before last year’s pandemic shutdowns, 24-year-old Julia Swanson had been commuting from Newport News to her job as a civil engineer for the Virginia Beach office of Kimley-Horn, a national engineering firm headquartered in North Carolina. It could take 35 minutes to an hour and a half traveling only one way, and Swanson says [...]
$300M widening of U.S. Route 58 has started in Patrick County
A groundbreaking ceremony took place Wednesday in Patrick County to widen a 7.4-mile stretch of U.S. Route 58 in Patrick County, the first phase of a project to create a continuous four-lane highway between Virginia Beach and Interstate 77. The project, part of the U.S. Route 58 Corridor Development Program enacted by state lawm[...]
Va. launches Amtrak service from downtown Richmond to D.C. and New York
Virginia is launching the Amtrak Northeast Regional Route 51, a thrice daily service from downtown Richmond to Washington D.C. and New York, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday from Main Street Station. “If you’ve ever been stuck on I-95, you know we can’t pave our way out of congestion,” Northam said in a statem[...]
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute taps new executive director
Zachary Doerzaph will become the next executive director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, the university’s largest research institute, effective Oct. 1. “Zac Doerzaph is a nationally recognized transportation researcher with extensive leadership experience in large team projects from different sponsors,” Virg[...]
Metro unveils major Falls Church redevelopment agreement
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has signed an agreement to redevelop the West Falls Church Metro Station site as a more than 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development. Construction is expected to begin in 2023. The agreement was reached with FGCP-Metro LLC, a joint real estate development partnership involvi[...]
Sonny Merryman taps new president and CEO
Beginning Aug. 9, Caley Edgerly will take the wheel as president and CEO of Lynchburg bus dealer Sonny Merryman Inc., as current CEO Floyd Merryman III moves into his new role as executive chairman of the family business started by his father nearly 55 years ago. Edgerly previously served as president and CEO of North […]
Reston’s Trucker Tools acquired by Calif. tech firm
Reston-based Trucker Tools, a software company that provides a digital freight management platform for the transportation industry, has been acquired by Walnut Creek, California-based software company ASG. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2013, Trucker Tools offers a software suite with capacity management, predictive freight matching, automated booking, real-time GPS-based visibility […][...]