Transportation Policy
Streetsblog LA
Density, Car Ownership, and What It Means for the Future of Los Angeles
Density. Vehicle Ownership. The number of cars packed into a small area.
December 13, 2010
FTA: Transit Maintenance — Not Just Expansion — Will Grow Ridership
Aging infrastructure across the country has become an enormous safety risk. It’s also becoming an economic hazard.
October 5, 2010
Musing on Trends and Challenges of Increased Transit Use
David Lazarus, in one of his recent L.A. Times columns on public
transit, off-handly laments neglect of the "long-term promotion of
public transportation as a practical alternative to traveling by car".
June 2, 2010
Tracing the Fault Lines Between Public and Private Transit Operators
Should private transit companies enjoy the same federal gas tax
exemption that many public operators receive? How does the existence of
private inter-city bus service affect the government's development of
new high-speed rail lines? And does it matter that private transit
firms are eligible for public subsidies, even if at a much smaller rate
than public rail and bus agencies?
May 25, 2010
Feds to Start Scoring Transportation Potential of Housing Grant Applicants
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan said late
Friday that his agency will soon start gauging the "location
efficiency" of its grant applicants, determining each project's
potential for connecting residents to surrounding neighborhoods -- and
mirroring the recommendations of a recent report that found a correlation between homeowners' foreclosure risk and their dependence on car ownership.
May 24, 2010
On National Bike to Work Day, U.S. DOT and Cycling Advocates Eye New Moves
In addition to the announcement of
a new local bike-share system, today's D.C. Bike to Work Day found both
the U.S. DOT and the nation's leading bike advocacy groups positioning
themselves to claim new victories for cyclists in the coming days.
May 24, 2010
Transit Industry to Join State DOTs in Blasting Senate Climate Bill
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is set to join
the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO) and two construction interests tomorrow in protesting the
Senate climate bill's proposed diversion of new fuel fees away from
infrastructure -- an argument that puts the transit industry's leading
D.C. lobbying group squarely in the transportation mainstream.
May 19, 2010
State DOTs’ Prescription for American Cities: More Highways
The
umbrella group for America's state DOTs, the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials, has started a major new
push for, you guessed it, more highways. The new campaign argues for
highway expansion in urban areas as if fifty years of similar policies
hadn't led to a dead end of sprawl, pollution, and oil dependence.
May 18, 2010
Behind the Transport Industry’s Lament About the Senate Climate Bill
While transport reform advocates hailed last week's long-awaited Senate climate bill for directing
an estimated $6 billion-plus towards local land use planning and green
infrastructure, state DOTs and construction interests criticized the
legislation -- suggesting that the measure's sponsors could face stiff
resistance from the transportation industry's mainstream despite making
concessions to win over all sides.
May 17, 2010
First Lady’s Childhood Obesity Task Force Calls For Transportation Reform
The
White House's inter-agency task force on childhood obesity, developed
under the stewardship of First Lady Michelle Obama, today released a 124-page report
recommending dozens of policy shifts in health care, community
development, and transportation that it estimates can bring down
obesity rates among kids by 5 percent over the next 20 years.
May 11, 2010