President Obama
Streetsblog LA
Crunching June Stimulus Numbers: Roads Create Pricier Jobs Than Transit
Transportation spending under the economic stimulus law created
close to 15,000 jobs in June, or three times as many as were created in
May, according to estimates released today by the U.S. DOT.
August 19, 2009
Ad Nauseam: What “Cash for Clunkers” Hath Wrought
The government's Cash for Clunkers program officially begins today,
but car dealers have been running ads like this one for a while
already. They have to keep the public informed: Now you can trade in
your old car and buy a brand-new SUV or pick-up truck with a hefty
assist from Uncle Sam.
July 24, 2009
Obama’s Agenda for Cities: Enough Talk
In closing his speech
to a roundtable on urban and metropolitan issues, given yesterday at
the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Barack Obama quoted Chicago
architect Daniel Burnham, who famously urged men to "make no small
plans."
July 14, 2009
Obama Talks Urban Policy as LaHood Seeks More Urban Transpo Money
The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which has drawn criticism for its inactivity at a rocky economic time for the nation's cities, capped a day-long summit today with a speech by President Obama.
July 13, 2009
Obama Keeps Roads Out of National Forests — For a Time
Paved roads are a fact of life in most of the country, but should they
be permitted in the nation's protected forest areas? The Obama
administration says no, as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack affirmed
today in a directive that prohibits road construction in nearly 50 million acres of forest land.
May 29, 2009
Flashback: Obama Once Led Push for ‘Complete Streets’
With Congress out of town on its Memorial Day break, the nation's
capital is a quiet place to be -- but all of that will change next
week, as the appearance of the House transportation bill is expected to
kick off an intense battle to reshape federal policy on transit, bikes, roads and bridges.
May 28, 2009
Obama’s Energy Secretary Reclaims His Bike, For A Day
Energy Secretary Steven Chu was dismayed about having to give up his bike-commuting habit in order to join the Obama Cabinet, but security concerns didn't stop him from participating in Friday's Bike to Work Day in the nation's capital. As the Wall Street Journal reports:
May 18, 2009
We Need an Ambitious Transpo Bill. So How Are We Going to Pay for It?
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing
about the future of national surface transportation. This much isn't in
doubt: Current policies need a major overhaul. What to change and,
especially, how to pay for it are very much in question.
April 29, 2009
Obama’s Touted Office of Urban Policy Slow to Take Shape
When Barack Obama was elected, urbanists were, in some cases literally, dancing in the streets. For once, America had elected a president who understood the importance of cities — and who promised to create an “Office for Urban Policy” that would help those cities to take their rightful place in the federal policy debate. But, … Continued
April 28, 2009
Is the Obama Administration Poised to Push Transit?
While President Barack Obama promoted wind power and cap-and-trade legislation, VP Joe Biden spent Earth Day talking up transit. Public radio's "The Takeaway"
reports that Biden held a presser at a bus maintenance facility in
Landover, Maryland, to tout a $300 million investment in hybrid buses
and other municipal vehicles as part of the federal stimulus package.
Said Biden:
April 24, 2009