Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 27, 2008 In central Arizona, the light rail line known as Valley Metro Rail was officially opened to the public. This line, which is part of the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, serves the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. The Saturday morning inauguration of Valley Metro Rail was marked by plenty of... Continue Reading →
December 22, 2012 A single-track tramway line in Oranjestad, the capital city of the Caribbean island country of Aruba, was officially dedicated. Aruba is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and -- along with the Netherlands’ special municipalities and other constituent countries in the Caribbean Sea -- it is part of those... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1910 The Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was officially opened to traffic. This bridge had been designed by Waddell & Harrington and, as part of the inaugural festivities, C.K. Allen from that engineering firm formally recommended acceptance of the new structure to the city. Portland Mayor Joseph Simon responded by declaring, “Let it open!” This... Continue Reading →
December 15, 2003 An intermodal transit hub in the town of Secaucus in northeastern New Jersey was officially opened. This 321,000-square foot (29,800-square-meter) railway station, which is operated by New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), is five miles (8.1 kilometers) east of Newark Penn Station and five miles (8.1 kilometers) west of New York Penn Station.... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1984 A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station was opened in the city of Cambridge in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. This station is located at the intersection of of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues in Cambridge’s Porter Square neighborhood. Porter station serves the Red Line, one of MBTA’s rapid transit lines; the... Continue Reading →
December 6, 1913 The steam ferry Leschi was launched from Rainier Beach on Lake Washington, a large freshwater lake adjacent to Seattle. Chief Leschi (1808-1858), for whom this vessel was named, served as the leader of the Nisqually Indian Tribe in the vicinity of Puget Sound in present-day Washington State. The ferry Leschi had the... Continue Reading →
December 5, 2020 In the Canadian province of Ontario, an intercity bus terminal in the downtown section of Toronto was officially opened. The Union Station Bus Terminal (USBT), which is operated by the government-owned company Metrolinx, is connected via pedestrian walkways to Union Station (a major railway facility and Canada’s busiest transportation hub). USBT serves... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1863 In the east-central section of New Zealand’s South Island, a railway line between the city of Christchurch and its suburb of Ferrymead in the Canterbury Region first went into service. Several days later, the area newspaper known as the Press confirmed “that the Ferrymead Railway was opened for traffic, with a general... Continue Reading →
November 17, 1999 In the state of Western Australia (WA), a bus station built on the Bentley campus of Curtin University of Technology was opened. Bentley, which is a southern suburb of WA’s capital city of Perth, serves as that university’s main campus. (This official name of this educational institution was shortened to Curtin University... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1982 Manors Metro station in northeastern England’s ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear was officially opened. This station, which is located in the Shieldfield area of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, is part of the region’s Tyne and Wear Metro light rail rapid transit system. Measuring a total of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 