What Has President Obama Done to Improve American Transportation Policy?
With the election just days away, it’s a good time to reflect on what the Obama administration has done with transportation policy – and what a Romney administration might have in store. Streetsblog does not endorse candidates. This is an overview of their respective records and a look back at what we know of these two men. We’ll start with President Obama in this post and move on to Mitt Romney in the next one.
November 5, 2012
Who Should Foot the Bill for Sandy’s Damage to Tracks and Train Tunnels?
As the East Coast surveys the damage from Hurricane Sandy, cities are still struggling to get their transit systems back up and running.
October 31, 2012
Infographic: The Many Connections Between Transportation and Health
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched their "New Public Health" website last year with the goal of meeting community members where they are to talk about public health. A lot of those conversations happen online, and they explore the connections between public health and policy decisions related to everything from education to transportation. Last week, they published an interview with U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood.
October 30, 2012
DIY Urbanism: No Permits, No Red Tape, No Going Back
You have dreamed about striping your own bike lane on your most-traveled routes. You got your street closed off for a block party. Maybe you even spent the afternoon feeding the meter on Park(ing) Day.
October 15, 2012
MassDOT Secretary: “We Will Build No More Superhighways”
OK, everybody, pack your bags. We're all moving to Massachusetts.
October 11, 2012
This Could Be the Biggest Year Ever for Transit at the Ballot Box
Next month, 19 transit-related measures will come before voters. If the rest of this year is any guide, 16 of them will pass.
October 10, 2012
NRDC Gives Gas Consumption Maps a Helpful Revision
The overwhelming sentiment that greeted our story on the gas consumption maps the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club put out last week went something like this: These are almost useful. Just about everyone agreed that looking at total fuel consumption per county wasn’t very informative without weighing that number against population.
October 8, 2012
As MAP-21 Takes Effect, Road Builders Vie for TIFIA Funds
It's October, the start of the federal government's fiscal year 2013, and the start of the MAP-21 transportation law. The law was signed July 6 but got a three-month grace period to let U.S. DOT set guidance and give states a little time to get ready for the new requirements -- things like setting up grant programs to distribute bike/ped funding to local communities (though they can also just squander that money).
October 2, 2012
Should Doctors Play a Role in Determining Who’s Fit to Drive?
When to take grandma's keys away: In the United States, this question treated is largely treated as a family matter.
October 1, 2012
Which Counties Have the Biggest Oil Addiction Problem? We Still Don’t Know.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “What I really need is a map showing what U.S. counties use the most gasoline, so that I can target my sustainability efforts there?” Funny, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club were thinking the same thing. What they came up with gets us partway there.
October 1, 2012