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Will the Next Merit-Based Transpo Program Rock Harder Than TIGER?
The second is that administration officials are still fine-tuning the policies and programs they want to see in the next transportation bill. Polly Trottenberg, assistant secretary for transportation policy at U.S. DOT, said she wants to adjust the way her agency distributes competitive grants. She called the TIGER program too reactive — letting states and regions propose isolated projects and then choosing the best among them. She’d rather have more latitude to help regions start broad new reforms. DOT, she said, is looking to the administration’s education grants program, Race to the Top, for inspiration. They’re tentatively calling the transpo version “Wheel in the Sky” (yes – like the Journey song) but Trottenberg didn’t seem to think that name would stick.
September 21, 2010
Streetsblog Looking for a Capitol Hill Reporter
Editor’s note: Our search for a national reporter to take over Streetsblog Capitol Hill wouldn’t be complete without putting out a call to the audience with the greatest passion for livable streets and sustainable transportation policy — our readers. We are looking for a talented professional journalist, eager to make an impact, to take over … Continued
July 13, 2010
Dodd Vows to Pass Livability Bill Amid Skepticism From Rural Senators
Even as the Obama administration ramps up its work on a sustainability initiative that treats
transportation, housing, and energy efficiency as interconnected
aspects of development policy, the effort remains without an official
congressional authorization -- a situation that Senate Banking
Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) vowed to fix yesterday.
March 9, 2010
New Analysis: Major Cities Still Shortchanged by Transportation Stimulus
The Obama administration’s awarding of $1.5 billion in competitive transportation stimulus grants on Wednesday sparked elation in cities such as Kansas City and New Orleans. But those celebrations were more than just anecdotal evidence of the so-called TIGER program‘s urban impact, according to a new analysis from the Brookings Institution’s Rob Puentes. (Chart: The Avenue) … Continued
February 22, 2010
Senate Dems to Call Up Jobs Bill Monday … With Transport Details TBA
Senate Democratic leaders appeared this morning to tout their
commitment to passing a job-creation bill by the end of next week --
but the substance of their jobs measure, including the fate of pivotal
transportation provisions, remains up in the air.
February 4, 2010
The Urbanist Case Against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), an advocacy group working to
reform local development practices, is seizing on House Financial
Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank's (D-MA) recent call for a new system of housing finance to replace government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
January 29, 2010
Should a Climate Bill Even Try to Fight Sprawl?
The potential for a cap-and-trade climate bill to set aside significant
amounts of money for reforming local land use and transportation
planning is often touted by Democrats, environmental groups, and this particular Streetsblogger.
January 12, 2010
Congress, Associated Press, Argue Whether Stimulus Actually Stimulated Anything
The Associated Press published a piece
today that, after putting "economists and statisticians" to work on
analyzing $21 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation,
reached a volatile conclusion:
January 11, 2010
The U.S. Transportation Financing Crisis: A Snapshot From the States
Washington transportation policymaking can often resemble an
unwieldy soup of anywhere between 50 and 535 local perspectives, as
lawmakers from different states and districts vie for a fixed (or even shrinking) amount of federal funding.
January 7, 2010