Transportation Funding
Streetsblog LA
Metro (Sort Of) Decides on Its Stimulus List
Today, the Metro Board of Directors passed a list of projects which it will use to apply for stimulus funds as they become available. Their list, available at the end of this document, is actually quite a bit greener than one might expect with pages of bicycle, pedestrian and transit projects dominating the document and only a few highway expansion projects. While not perfect, and there's certainly no talk of closing Broadway to cars, it is a clear improvement from the list that was submitted by the city at the end of December of last year. Metro is expecting between $850 million and $950 million from the stimulus for L.A. County.
February 26, 2009
Advocates Launch Effort to Restore State Transit Funding
California
transit advocates have begun organizing a strategy to move legislation
through Sacramento that would dedicate a steady, long-term state
revenue source for public transit and prevent future budget writers
from raiding it.
February 20, 2009
Final CA Budget Cuts Gas Tax Increase, Still Nothing for Transit
In other words, the passage of the budget was so important to legislative leaders, they were willing to shake-up the electoral system that put them in office in the first place. And yet...not one legislature from Los Angeles or any other metropolis was willing to stand up for transit operating funds.
February 19, 2009
Tonight: PBS on Transit, States, and the Stimulus
Streetsbloggers will want to tune in to PBS tonight for the latest installment in the Blueprint America series. NOW will look at where all that stimulus cash is headed. Here's the teaser:
February 13, 2009
Cal Transit Association on State Budget: Armageddon Is Here
Yesterday, transit advocates from around the state strove to grapple with the new reality that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature's "compromise" on the state budget completely abolished the State Transit Assistance (STA) and the $536 million that it dedicated to subsidizing transit operations.
February 13, 2009
Final Stimulus Bill Slaps Transit Riders in the Face
The final tally is in, and we now have a breakdown for transportation funding in the stimulus bill that President Obama will sign, barring some unforeseen turn of the screw. Via Transportation for America: $29 billion for highways and bridges $8.4 billion for transit $8 billion for high-speed rail $1.3 billion for Amtrak To compare … Continued
February 12, 2009
State Budget: Higher Fees Won’t Lead to Better Transportation
For those of us awaiting our tax return from the State of California, the news from Sacramento concerning yesterday's budget compromise comes as welcome news. For just about everyone else, the news isn't good. That's especially true for anyone that has a commute that isn't either a pedestrian or cyclist.
February 12, 2009
Waxman on Stimulus Conference Committee, Call Now
The fight to preserve and expand funding for bicycle, pedestrian and transit projects in the federal stimulus package isn't over just yet. Because the Senate and House of Representatives didn't pass identical bills, the two sides will each send five members to a conference committee to hammer out the differences before it is signed by President Obama. A report from the committee could come as soon as later today.
February 11, 2009
Senate Approves Stimulus Bill — On to Conference Committee
The Senate approved its version of the stimulus bill this afternoon
by a 61-37 vote. Attention now turns to conference committee
negotiations, where differences between the House and Senate bills will
get ironed out. Politico has the scoop on who will be negotiating on the Senate side, and they're not exactly an urban bunch:
February 10, 2009