Government

NEW YORK — Americans picked up the pace of spending in January as the threat of omicron faded and there was some easing of supply shortages.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is about to allow new high-tech headlights that can automatically tailor beams so they focus on dark areas of the road and don’t create glare for oncoming drivers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is invoking emergency powers across all of Canada to quell protests by demonstrators who have paralyzed Ottawa and blocked border crossings in anger over the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Counties play a vital role delivering transportation projects funded by the federal $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told local municipal officials.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s North America operations continue to be disrupted after protests closed off the Ambassador Bridge linking the U.S. and Canada, hurting production at several of the automaker’s plants in the region.

Diesel eclipsed $4 a gallon for the first time in nearly eight years, with a 6.8-cent jump pushing the national average to $4.019, according to Energy Information Administration data released Feb. 14.

Transportation experts are urging Congress and the Biden administration to release federal infrastructure funds to improve unsafe bridges across the nation.

Economists and industry experts widely believe supply chain disruptions will continue to greatly impact the transportation industry for the first half of the year, and possibly into 2023.

Max Vekich was confirmed by a 51-43 Senate vote to serve on the Federal Maritime Commission through 2026.

The U.S. Postal Service is expected in coming days to reaffirm its plan to pay Oshkosh Corp. as much as $6 billion over 10 years to replace an aging fleet of red-white-and blue delivery vans with mostly gasoline-powered models instead of climate-friendly electric vehicles.