Category: Maritime and Transportation
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
Hampton Roads Transit is test- driving a new bus route from downtown Norfolk to Norfolk International Airport.
Travelers can catch a bus from downtown Norfolk's Cedar Grove stop and take it via Tidewater Drive to Norview Avenue and Arrivals Boulevard, near the airport's baggage claim.
The route also includes stops at Bromley, East Norview, Five Points and Green Hill Farms, which, until now, did not have HRT service.
The test run will continue through March 15.
By Philip Newswanger
philip.newswanger@insidebiz.com
Travelers on Amtrak's future service from Norfolk to Richmond and points beyond better carry cab fare if they have business at the state Capitol.
The proposed passenger rail service between Norfolk, Petersburg, Richmond and Washington, D.C., will stop at Staples Mill, a major hub for federally funded Amtrak.
The station is five miles from the center of Richmond, so travelers will have to pay cab fare of $25 one way.
By Philip Newswanger
philip.newswanger@insidebiz.com
Passenger trains will roll into Norfolk at the end of the year, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced last week.
Yet it remains questionable whether or not the service between Norfolk, Petersburg and Richmond can be sustained financially longer than two years.
The state - not the federal government - is paying for the daily round-trip service from the state's coffers.
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
One year ago, Joe Dorto, the president of Virginia International Terminals, which runs the Port of Virginia, predicted activity in Virginia's port terminals would increase 4 percent in 2011.
Last week, Dorto, making his 32nd "State of the Port" address sponsored by the Hampton Roads Global Commerce Council at the Town Point Club in downtown Norfolk, said he wished he had been right. Activity increased 2 percent.
By Philip Newswanger
philip.newswanger@insidebiz.com
Thousands of military and civilian commuters descending on Norfolk Naval Station every day by ferry or light rail would paralyze the world's largest naval installation today.
Capt. Mary Jackson, commanding officer of Norfolk Naval Station, said if light rail and a ferry deposited commuters at the docks or the gates, the base wouldn't have the means to move personnel to their work stations.
The region's transportation agency has adopted a customer-friendly attitude.
"Our core business is the people we pick up every day," said Ray Amoruso, chief planning and development officer of Hampton Roads Transit. "We lost our core mission along the way and we're trying to recapture that."
Amoruso delivered his remarks to a board of directors meeting of the Hampton Roads Public Transportation Alliance, an advocacy group for public transportation founded in 1993.
Jerry A. Bridges
Executive Director
Virginia Port Authority
I spend a lot of time talking about the Port of Virginia and its economic significance to the region and the commonwealth: 350,000-plus jobs statewide, more than $41 billion in annual revenue and an industry that has been in Virginia - Hampton Roads - since Jamestown was founded in 1607. Those facts are hard to deny and those are the reasons why I continually push the region's leaders to get behind the port and when applicable, consider the industry in their decision-making.
Michael Torrech
President, American Maritime Holdings
Ship repairers in Hampton Roads work closely together to find solutions to our aging and unskilled workforce issues. Our industry generates more than $5 billion to the regional economy and employs more than 36,000 workers.
Yet, we often encounter workers who have no idea how much career potential we offer, as well as the excellent pay, benefits and stability.
Legislation that would have repealed a ban on the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies purchasing high-emission fuels has failed.
Sec. 526 of the Energy Independence Security Act was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007 and stated the Department of Defense, along with other federal agencies, was not allowed to purchase fuels with higher-than-standard emissions, such as liquid coal.
The DoD, environmentalists and others applauded the law, saying that it paved the way for the military to become a leader in bio-fuel technology.
A Virginia Beach car dealership will soon start converting gasoline vehicle fleets into cars and trucks that can use propane.
Propane gas has long been touted as a greener, cheaper and more efficient alternative to gasoline. Tidewater Import Car Service in Virginia Beach is one of the - if not the - first Hampton Roads dealerships to offer the conversion, said Rob Torrisi, president of the company.
The Honda dealer will target taxi cab companies, law enforcement and any businesses that use large fleets of vehicles for the conversions.
