Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the library’s blog.

Metrolink unveils newer, safer passenger cars (abc7.com)

ABC has some video of the new Metrolink cars – the Guardian Fleet – that debuted yesterday.Designed to be safer in the event of an accident by better distributing impact forces, the cars are also a style upgrade. Metrolink calls the cars “the future of rail travel in the United States.”

Democrats and Republicans agree on higher gas taxes, just not in public all the time (Autoblog Green)

Gas taxes are like political kryptonite for both Democrats and Republicans – the federal gas tax hasn’t budged since 1993 – yet behind the scenes it seems both sides feel that a gas price hike might be a good thing. Even George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have been linked in support of increased gas taxes for deficit reduction purposes. But in the political battlefield, the idea of wildly increasing gas prices remains a very effective a tool in scaring voters away from one party and into the arms of another.

Japan to China: You’ve hijacked our high-speed rails (MSNBC)

China high-speed rail recently broke a new speed record – 302 mph – and Japan thinks it’s a bunch of baloney that China is taking credit for Japanese technology. But the real fun in this article is that while these Asian high-speed rail giants quarrel over who’s better at blowing past 300 mph, a European high-speed rail exec talks some well deserved trash about U.S. rail, “Your network is so late and so outdated.” Hey! It only takes Amtrak 11-plus hours to go from L.A. to Oakland!

Metrorail (WMATA) Map and Train Locator (The Unofficial D.C. Transit Guide)

I love cool transit tech and think it’s high time L.A. starts being a leader in this field. Here’s a Google Map that displays the real time location of trains on the Washington D.C. Metrorail system. Probably not so useful when you’re sitting at home, but imagine it on a display in a station or on your iPad while you wait.