Transportation Policy
Streetsblog LA
Bids For Federal Streetcar Aid Top Available Money by Nearly Tenfold
After announcing $130 million in new streetcar grants in December, the Obama administration received more than $1.1 billion in applications, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff told lawmakers today — offering more evidence of the growing local enthusiasm for competitive transportation funding that began with the stimulus law’s TIGER grant program. New Orleans, above, … Continued
March 23, 2010
House “Fix” to Jobs Bill Takes $192 Million from California
Fixing a disputed provision in the jobs bill that President Obama signed into law yesterday
-- as Senate Democratic leaders promised House transportation committee
chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) following complaints by several members of
his panel -- would involve the redistribution of $932 million in
funding for two major federal road and rail programs.
March 19, 2010
Inhofe Questions Transit and Bike-Ped Investments in House Transport Bill
The senior Republican on the Senate environment panel today criticized the House's six-year transportation bill,
lamenting that the measure "focus[es] very heavily on transit, bike
paths, and sidewalks" and carves out a strong federal role in
"decisions historically left to the state level."
March 18, 2010
Dem. Senator Asks LaHood to ‘Put an End to’ Transportation Earmarks
When House leaders agreed last week to ban earmarks to for-profit entities, tax and transportation projects got a notable exemption.
But that doesn't mean Congress has no appetite to curb transport
earmarks, as Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) showed in a letter sent this
week to U.S. DOT chief Ray LaHood.
March 18, 2010
Is 2010 the Year for Federal Bike Aid? The Answer: A Big ‘Maybe’
This week's National Bike Summit culminated in an ambitious new campaign to recruit a million bike advocates and the unveiling
of a new Google Maps bike feature. But in a Wednesday session dedicated
to the outlook for federal bike investments, cycling advocates
hesitated to declare that they could secure new commitments from
Washington.
March 15, 2010
New House Jobs Bill Dominated by Aid to Cities
Soon after the Senate signed off
yesterday on a $150 billion package of tax extenders and unemployment
benefits that was promoted as a job-creation measure -- a bill that
lacked dedicated new funding for transportation -- Democrats on the
House education and labor committee were releasing their own jobs legislation.
March 11, 2010
Why Are Cyclists Included in Distracted Driving Bill?
A
bill introduced last month by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto),
who has been a steady advocate for reducing the dangers of distracted
driving, would increase first-time and repeat fines for drivers who
text while driving or who don’t use hands-free devices, and would
extend the prohibition of cell phone use to cyclists. This last move
has cycling advocates baffled and on the defensive.
March 5, 2010
House Passes Jobs Bill with Changes, Prompting New Senate Vote
The House has just begun voting on the Senate jobs bill, which includes a $20 billion reprieve for the nation's highway trust fund and an highway expansion of Build America Bonds -- but though the legislation is expected to pass, it won't be headed to the president's desk yet.
March 4, 2010
Bunning Throws in the Towel, Congress Restores Transport Funding
Workers at the U.S. DOT and on transportation projects around the
country are back on the job today after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) lost
his politically hazardous battle against a 30-day extension of federal infrastructure law and unemployment benefits.
March 3, 2010
Transportation Filibuster Update: Bunning Won’t Yield to Fellow GOPer
Federal infrastructure funding and many U.S. DOT workers remain in
limbo today as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) continues his one-man filibuster
of legislation extending the 2005 transport law, turning himself into a
Democratic target and a poster child for Washington gridlock.
March 2, 2010