Ben Fried

Last night Jerrold Nadler's stimulus bill amendment, which would add $3 billion for transit, cleared the House Rules Committee. The full House may vote on the amendment by noon today, so the sooner you call your representative the better.

We're at a critical moment for green transportation in the stimulus package. The key piece on the table now is Jerrold Nadler's amendment to boost transit investment by $3 billion. A decision could be reached as soon as today, so now is the time to make those phone calls. The people to reach are the House leadership and the Appropriations Committee, who must be persuaded to allow more transit investment into the bill.

Gary Toth is director of Project for Public Spaces' transportation program and an influential voice for transportation as a tool for making communities more livable. In this piece he tells us how state DOTs are taking cues from Washington as the stimulus bill takes shape. It's going to be more of the same unless Congress starts sending different signals -- immediately. The names of DOTs have been altered (State DOT A, State DOT B) to protect the identity of sources. Check out PPS's social network site for more from Gary.

Ray LaHood handles some softballs at his nomination hearing. Looks like Ray LaHood will sail toward an easy confirmation in the Senate. Members of the Transportation Committee were congratulating him before he opened his mouth at this afternoon’s nomination hearing, which just adjourned. Here are some bullet points: The livable communities plank in Obama’s campaign … Continued

Inauguration parade rehearsal. Photo: Travir/Flickr As many as four million people are expected to descend on the National Mall today for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th President. Contending with that mass of humanity has left officials with no choice but to implement temporary policies to get people in and out of … Continued

Via Greater Greater Washington, the Huffington Post is reporting that House Democrats have released a draft summary of an economic stimulus bill, and at first blush there's little for green transportation advocates to cheer. $30 billion is slated for highways, $10 billion for transit -- a marginal improvement over the longstanding 80/20 split in federal funding. Check after the jump for more details.

With President-elect Obama back in Washington, action is heating up again around the economic recovery package, which could total up to $850 billion over the next two years. As much as $100 billion may be at stake for transportation projects. How will it be spent? The information that continues to trickle out of state departments of transportation is troubling. With a few exceptions, they are asking mainly to fund roadway expansion projects that would worsen traffic, pollution, and oil dependency, at the expense of transit, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure.

StreetsWiki author Andy Hamilton files this entry on an idea from our very own Federal Highway Administration: the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.

Good stuff this week from Tom Toles, whose transpo-themed editorial cartoons are always on target. Click through for the rest of this commentary.