Washington Monument to reopen

WASHINGTON » The National Park Service is working to reopen the Washington Monument in May after a lengthy closure to repair damage from an earthquake in 2011.

Brian Hall, a spokes­man for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, says the park service is still working on an exact date for the reopening.

For months, workers have been removing scaffolding from the 555-foot monument. The massive repair project is expected to cost $15 million. Washington businessman David Rubenstein pledged to pay half the amount with Congress allocating the rest.

American, JetBlue sever deal

NEW YORK » American Airlines and JetBlue Airways Corp. are ending an agreement that allowed travelers to add connections to their itinerary on each other’s aircraft.

The termination of the interline sales agreement is effective Monday.

The companies also said that they are ending a reciprocal frequent-flier program accrual agreement. Travelers won’t earn miles or points when traveling on eligible routes run by the other airline beginning April 1.

All American AAdvantage miles or JetBlue TrueBlue points already accrued through the partnership will be credited to customers’ accounts and are not affected.

Last month Delta announced changes to its frequent-flier program. Starting next year, Delta customers will earn miles based on how much they spend, not just miles flown.

Transit ridership hits 57-year high

LOS ANGELES » Americans are boarding public buses, trains and subways in greater numbers than any time since the suburbs began booming. Nearly 10.7 billion trips in 2013, to be precise — the highest total since 1956.

The new numbers come from the American Public Transportation Association.

Transit ridership has now fully recovered from a dip caused by the Great Recession. With services restored after economy-driven cutbacks, the numbers appear set to continue what had been a steady increase.