Transportation Funding
Streetsblog LA
With Red Light Cameras All But Gone, What’s Next for Creating Safe Crossings
(Update: The L.A. Times reports there was more chicanery at City Council today and the motion has been sent back to the Finance and Budget Committee, Chaired by red light camera backer Bernard Parks. Streetsblog still believes that it is wildly unlikely the program should be saved and the Council should focus on what to do with the the money "saved" by killing the program.)
June 22, 2011
Cutting Train Budgets Could De-Rail Transamerican Routes
The idyllic cross-country train trips that many Americans still take could get derailed by today’s “slash and burn” federal budget policies. Meanwhile, fears for the safety of rail passengers in the post-bin Laden era are drumming up political support for costly security measures and raising, once again, questions about why the federal government funds rail routes without any promise of profitability.
May 17, 2011
Metro’s 2012 Budget Represents the Changing Tide in the “Bus v. Rail” Debate
Earlier this week, Metro released a draft of its 2012 budget, which includes both its operating and capital budgets. The budget increased slightly over the 2011 budget, which is because many Measure R projects will begin construction this year. The Source does a pretty good job breaking down the numbers, but the final budget hasn't been uploaded to the Metro website as of yet. Update: Here it is!
May 5, 2011
President Obama’s Transportation Bill Prioritizes Livability, High-Speed Rail
A draft of the president’s full transportation bill [PDF], obtained by the semi-underground Transportation Weekly, has started floating around Beltway policy circles. This draft is more informative than the partial bill that started making the rounds last week, but it’s still undated and it’s not necessarily the final proposal.
May 4, 2011
Obama’s Deficit Reduction Plan Will Look Beyond the “Twelve Percent”
President Obama just finished his speech at George Washington University. He drew a sharp line between the Republican budget proposal and his own vision for reducing the deficit while preserving the social safety net.
April 14, 2011
House Dems Release Alternative to GOP Budget, Separate From Obama
With the FY2011 budget finally settled, it’s time for Washington to start fighting over 2012. President Obama released his 2012 budget proposal in February. The Republicans introduced theirs last week. And the House Democrats have just released theirs [PDF].
April 13, 2011
Two Important Transit Bills Moving in Sacramento
(Ryan Wiggins is Transportation for America’s an on the ground in Southern California. Last week he presented a primer on transportation funding at “Expanding Our Public Transit Options: Resources to Keep LA Moving Forward?” a Salon put on by Breathe L.A. He was nice enough to share his notes with us in a two-part series. Today we’ll focus on some legislation moving in Sacramento. Yesterday Wiggins gave an overview of the federal picture. – DN)
April 12, 2011
A Federal Funding Primer from Transportation for America
(Ryan Wiggins is Transportation for America's an on the ground in Southern California. Last week he presented a primer on transportation funding at "Expanding Our Public Transit Options: Resources to Keep LA Moving Forward?" a Salon put on by Breathe L.A. He was nice enough to share his notes with us in a two-part series. Today we'll focus on the federal picture. Tomorrow on the state one. - DN)
April 11, 2011
Government Shutdown Would Be a Punch in the Gut to Transit Agencies
A powwow between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, President Obama, and House Speaker John Boehner last night failed to yield a compromise that would put a budget in place before the government shuts down at midnight tonight. The failure of yet another attempt to negotiate makes a government shutdown all but inevitable.
April 8, 2011
A Call to Plan Cities for Tomorrow, While Bracing for Transit Cuts Today
USDOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari kicked off the Transportation Equity Network’s “One Nation, Indivisible” conference yesterday with a call to think long-term. By 2050, he said, we can expect the U.S. population to grow by 100 million people, and nearly all of them will live in large urban centers. Problems like crumbling infrastructure, inadequate transit systems, grinding traffic and pollution will be much worse then if we don’t start acting today.
April 5, 2011