Lawmakers Cross Party Lines on Transpo Funding as Debate Rages
An 18-month extension of existing transportation law cleared the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today, but not before
spirited debate on a proposal billed as a compromise with House members
who remain strongly opposed to the Senate's stopgap.
July 15, 2009
Obama Talks Urban Policy as LaHood Seeks More Urban Transpo Money
The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which has drawn criticism for its inactivity at a rocky economic time for the nation's cities, capped a day-long summit today with a speech by President Obama.
July 13, 2009
Transit Outsourcing Booms — But Are There Safety Trade-offs?
The Wall Street Journal reports
today on the growing number of cities around the country that are in
talks to outsource local transit systems to cope with the budgetary
pressures of the recession.
July 13, 2009
Republicans Deem Transpo Stimulus — 6% of Total Spending — a ‘Failure’
Republicans on the House transportation panel held a press
conference today to deem the economic stimulus law a failure, citing
low infrastructure spending in the nation's highest-unemployment states.
July 10, 2009
Taking GOP Graphics a Bit Too Seriously
Sen.
Kit Bond (R-MO), one of his chamber's leading opponents of action
against climate change, has swiped the hilariously complicated "chart"
that his House colleagues used last month in a futile attempt to portray emissions reductions as just too complex for the American people to stomach.
July 10, 2009
Did Pelosi Just Side with Oberstar on Transportation Bill?
That's the implication of a Roll Call story today that states: "Momentum Builds for Transportation Bill."
July 9, 2009
“Environmental Champion” Boxer Delays Climate Bill Until Fall
This was supposed to be a big week
for action on climate change in the Senate -- but it's ending with
Republicans rubbing their hands in glee as the Environment and Public
Works Committee delays its unveiling of legislation on carbon emissions.
July 9, 2009
Urban Traffic Report Sparks Clever Headlines, But Little Transit Talk
The latest edition of the Texas Transportation Institute's influential urban mobility report
was released today, prompting a flurry of mainstream media coverage
focused largely on a faux-ironic theme that would do Alanis Morrissette
proud -- the bad economy is giving us less traffic!
July 8, 2009
Lawmakers Aim to Bring ‘Sustainable Communities’ From Talk to Action
When three agencies in President Obama's Cabinet -- DOT, Housing and
Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- banded together to promote "sustainable communities," the initiative sounded promising but somewhat lacking in concrete ideas.
July 8, 2009
Senate Starts Climate Push With Nods to Jobs, Energy, and Transportation
The Senate is taking its first public steps toward combating climate
change -- and while the U.S. DOT was absent from this morning's
hearing, the chiefs of the Energy Department and Environmental
Protection Agency reminded lawmakers that transportation must play a
key role in any emissions reduction plan.
July 7, 2009