Business news in brief

In the Region
Transit ridership higher
Public transit ridership in the United States rose 1 percent to 10.8 billion trips in 2014, the most in 58 years, the American Public Transportation Association said Monday. Subway and train ridership was up 3 percent, while bus ridership was down about 1 percent. Total transit ridership was the highest since 1956, when ridership was 11.0 billion. The trade group's president, Michael Melaniphy, attributed the increase to the nation's improving economy and increasing transit options in many cities. - Paul Nussbaum
Court backs Amtrak
The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with Amtrak in a dispute with freight railroads over priority of passenger trains on freight tracks. A 2008 law directed Amtrak to work with the Federal Railroad Administration to create standards that let Amtrak keep priority over freight trains. But a federal appeals court sided with the freight railroad industry, which said Amtrak was a private organization that could not regulate competitors' actions. The Supreme Court reversed, saying Amtrak is like a government entity given the reality of federal controls. Amtrak said its on-time performance has been hampered by freight trains holding up passenger trains. - Paul Nussbaum
Taxi medallion price cut
After failing to sell any taxi medallions for new wheelchair-accessible cabs, the Philadelphia Parking Authority will slash the starting bid price to $50,000. The authority first put the new medallions up for auction at $475,000 last October, then cut the price to $350,000 in January, without attracting any buyers. The new weekly auctions will start May 6, PPA general counsel Dennis Weldon said Monday. The price for regular taxi medallions has slipped from about $500,000 to $400,000 in recent months, amid market uncertainty and the arrival of ride-share operators such as Uber and Lyft. There are 1,600 such medallions, which are required to operate a cab in Philadelphia. The PPA is seeking to sell medallions for 46 new wheelchair-accessible taxis now, and an additional 15 starting June 1. - Paul Nussbaum
Gaming company takeover bid
Shares in Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. climbed $4.06, or 12.5 percent, after the Wyomissing, Pa., company announced a hostile, $4.1 billion offer for the real estate holdings of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., a Las Vegas casino company. It was the biggest one-day gain for Gaming & Leisure Properties since the real estate investment trust was spun off from Penn National Gaming Inc. in the fall of 2013 to own most of Penn National's real estate. The stock closed at $36.43. Shares in Pinnacle, which owns 15 casinos and announced last fall that its board had decided to split into two companies, one to own its real estate and one to operate its casinos, were up even more, gaining 15.3 percent, or $4.19, to close at $31.61. Gaming & Leisure Properties made its offer public after becoming dissatisfied with the progress of private talks since December, according to its letter to the Pinnacle board. - Harold Brubaker
Alcoa buy titanium supplier
Alcoa is taking another step to bolster its stake in the aerospace industry with a $1.5 billion deal to buy titanium supplier RTI International Metals, which is based in Pittsburgh. New York-based Alcoa said Monday the appeal of the all-stock deal is that the aerospace and defense industries accounted for 80 percent of RTI's revenues last year. Alcoa has been shifting from its traditional role of mining and smelting aluminum to become a more diversified maker of lightweight metal and alloy products for aerospace, autos and other industries. - Associated Press
Urban Outfitters profit: $80M
Urban Outfitters Inc. reported $80.3 million in net income for the quarter ending Jan. 31. For the year, the company reported a profit of $232.4 million on $3.32 billion in revenue. - AP
Elsewhere
Help on fixing credit report
Disputing a mistake on your credit report could get easier and the effects of medical debt less severe under changes being made by the three largest credit-reporting agencies. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion said Monday people who contest items in their credit reports will receive more information concerning those disputes, including instructions on what they can do if they don't like the answer they get. In a bid to increase accuracy, medical debts will not be reported until after a 180-day waiting period to allow time for insurance payments to be applied. The agencies agreed to remove from credit reports previously reported medical collections that have been or are being paid by insurance companies. - AP
GM: $5B share buyback
General Motors Co. said it will buy back $5 billion in shares by the end of 2016 and that activist investor Harry J. Wilson will give up his request for a board seat after reaching an agreement with the automaker. - Bloomberg News