Category: Travel
First quarter Florida tourism continues record streak
In the first quarter of 2022, 36 million people visited the Sunshine State, a 39.6% percent increase from the same eriod last year, according to VISIT FLORIDA. It’s the third consecutive quarter that overall visitation to Florida has surpassed pre-pandemic visitation levels. “Florida’s latest visitation estimates are incredible news for our economy and all Floridians,” […]
New Jersey tourism industry recovering, and quite nicely
Life is good in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At least, it’s getting there. “Recovery, uneven though it was, was the theme for 2021,” claimed Tourism Economics, the third party economic research firm that performed a comprehensive study of New Jersey’s tourism this past year. The most visitor dollars were spent in Atlantic County, with its […]
Boston MedFlight receives $8.1 million tax-exempt lease
A nonprofit medical airlift company is benefiting from a tax-exempt lease on a new plane, Massachusetts officials announced. MassDevelopment has awarded an $8.1 million lease to Boston Medflight, in conjunction with U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing & Finance Inc., to assist the organization expand its services by purchasing and renovating a jet it will use for medical transport. […]
Student organization applauds end of federal travel mask mandate
A student organization that fought mandates on college campuses in Illinois and elsewhere during the pandemic is applauding a judge’s ruling dropping the travel mask mandate. A federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation modes Monday. The state of Illinois did the same the following day. U.S. […]
Washington State Patrol ends up on wrong end of traffic ticket in Scotland
Washington State Patrol officers are far more likely to give tickets than get them, but that’s what happened when a team from the agency’s Executive Services Section improperly used a bus lane in Glasgow, Scotland. That’s how a snap from a traffic camera in Scotland cost taxpayers in Washington nearly $100. A security detail for […]
North Carolina tourism increased to near-record numbers in 2021
Gov. Roy Cooper is touting the recovery of North Carolina’s tourism industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, which last year nearly matched record visitor spending in 2019. Visitors to North Carolina spent $28.9 billion in 2021, or just 1% below record 2019 spending levels and 45% more than 2020, when travel restrictions tied to the pandemic […]
New Jersey transit board approves more than $40 million in project contracts
More than $40 million in contracts for a series of projects ranging from a tunnel rehabilitation to helping the agency prepare for severe weather have been approved by the New Jersey Transit Board of Directors. The board approved a $6 million contract with Union Paving, the first for “early action” work on the Delco Lead […]
Graffiti on Subway Surges as World Visits NYC for ‘Risky Game’
On April 18, the French graffiti artist Julien Blanc posted photos to Instagram of his signature “JiBEONE” tag on a Manhattan rooftop where he was, he wrote, “waiting for the sunrise.” Days later, Blanc and graffiti partner Pierre Audebert were both struck and killed by a train at an elevated station along the No. 3 […]
Sound Transit projected fares fall by $2B due to free rider problem
Sound Transit’s new policy for fare enforcement on their passengers isn’t satisfying many Washington state residents, including a number of the agency’s board members. Sound Transit’s board of directors debated on the best way to hold passengers accountable while not burdening disadvantaged riders at a recent meeting. Russell Arnold from Sound Transit presented statistics on […]
Proposed regulations on rail industry will worsen supply chains, inflation, opponents argue
The Biden administration’s proposed new regulations on the railroad industry will have adverse economic consequences for the industry and consumers, a wide range of groups argue. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board held a two-day hearing this week on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) it issued earlier this year. One part of the plan is […]