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Smaller Cities Taking on Big Transit Projects
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fort Collins, Colorado. Savannah, Georgia.
December 7, 2012
Surgeon General Announces Call to Action on Walking
Walking can seem like a rather mundane thing to get organized about, until you realize that it’s a direct challenge to car-oriented transportation and it’s the best thing people can do for their health. Then walking is downright revolutionary.
December 6, 2012
Obama Takes Another Swing at $50 Billion in Infrastructure Spending
President Obama is pressing for infrastructure investment again as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. The president kicked off talks calling for an end to the debt ceiling, the extension of middle-class tax cuts, and $50 billion in infrastructure spending -- a proposal that first arose last year as part of his ultimately unsuccessful American Jobs Act.
December 5, 2012
Eight Burning Questions About Post-Election Transpo Policy and Politics
If I’ve learned one thing from all the meetings about transportation I’ve covered, it’s this: There is no progress without a solution on funding.
December 4, 2012
Patty Murray as Senate Budget Chief: What It Means for Transportation
In transportation circles, all eyes are on Rep. Bill Shuster, who was just tapped to head the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House. And you may have heard about how GOP leadership appointed a climate change denier to head the House Committee on Science. But on the Senate side, there's some good news for advocates of sustainable transportation coming out of the appointment process this week.
December 3, 2012
What Would Meaningful Amtrak Reform Look Like?
For the past two years, Amtrak has been under constant attack from House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL), who has used his gavel to bully the rail company. He likes to call it a “Soviet-style” monopoly and he goads it for losing money on everything from long-distance routes to food service. His vitriolic diatribes against Amtrak have become white noise, and they’re about to fade into the background as Mica surrenders his post to Rep. Bill Shuster next year.
November 30, 2012
How States Are Adapting to MAP-21’s Changes to Bike/Ped Funding
The current transportation law dealt a few hard knocks to bicycling and walking programs. One big one was the restructuring of the Transportation Enhancements program into something called Transportation Alternatives, which has to fund more types of projects with less money.
November 29, 2012
It’s Official: Bill Shuster Named Transportation Committee Chair
Republicans met today to choose committee chairs, and Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) has been placed at the head of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The former chair, John Mica, dropped his request yesterday to stay on as chair despite term limits.
November 28, 2012
Mica Drops Chairmanship Bid, Endorses Shuster
Rep. John Mica (R-FL) has withdrawn from the running to remain chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He was up against Republican term limits, which specify that no Congressmember can spend more than six years as the highest-ranking member of their party on a committee -- regardless of whether that time is spent as chair of the committee (while their party is in the majority) or as ranking member (when in the minority).
November 28, 2012
Rob Ford’s Greatest Hits
Rob Ford, internationally renowned nemesis of the livable streets movement, was removed from his post as mayor of Toronto today after being found guilty of violating local ethics laws. Ford will have an opportunity to appeal the ruling.
November 27, 2012