Rich People Love Sidewalks, And Other Livability Lessons From USDOT
When asking people what transportation options are important in their communities, why do poll-takers never ask them to choose between different options? Here comes another survey in which people say they want everything and are never asked to make the tradeoffs that come in the real world.
July 18, 2011
House Republicans False Choice: High Speed Rail or Flood Relief
This morning, the House voted 232-182 for an Energy and Water Appropriations bill that redirects $1 billion of high-speed rail money to flood relief for the Midwest.
July 18, 2011
Desperately Seeking: One Senate Transportation Bill, Preferably Bipartisan
Rumors were flying yesterday that a rollout of the Senate transportation bill, or at least a significant announcement about its status, was imminent. Staffers were locked away in meetings, finalizing the last details – or so we hoped. Some said that Democrats and Republicans were still trying to work out some significant issues, and that negotiations were getting tense.
July 15, 2011
Redefining Pedestrian Unfriendly – GA Mom Convicted of Homicide for Crossing Street
We don’t normally report on vehicle crashes here on the Capitol Hill blog, but this was so outrageous we couldn’t help ourselves.
July 14, 2011
CRS: Northeast Corridor Privatization Plan Violates Constitution
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has examined the question of whether the GOP plan to privatize Amtrak’s most valuable corridor is constitutional – and it’s determined that it is not.
July 13, 2011
Ford, Verizon Support Distracted-Driver Law — And Its Loophole
Yesterday, Ford became the first automaker to endorse a bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), to ban distracted driving. When a similar bill was introduced in the last session, Ford was the first to endorse it then, too.
July 13, 2011
Mica: Why Are the Democrats Picking On Me?
We were sad to see that Rep. Mica was sad to see that the Democrats were sad to see that the House transportation proposal is an unmitigated disaster for transportation policy.
July 12, 2011
Bi-Partisan Political Veterans Team Up to Design a New Gas Tax System
Transportation reformers around the country have long been disappointed at politicians’ unwillingness to raise the gas tax to pay for infrastructure. It seems, to many, an obvious and necessary solution for the chronic underfunding of our transportation system. Meanwhile, to the politicians, it is just as obvious that raising consumer taxes during a recession is a bad idea.
July 12, 2011
Mica’s Transportation Proposal: Responses Flood In
The GOP transportation proposal is now online.
July 7, 2011